Final Straws
by Lord Raa
Summary: Kasumi is tired of being alone. How much is too much for her to take? AU elements inside.
1. Chapter 1

Final Straws

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: Pay no attention to the naked man behind the keyboard. 

Please note that this story may contain scenes of a highly contrived and sexual nature. That means that it's not for the kiddies. It may also contain a few AU elements.

Continue at your own discretion.  
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Still here? Well in that case, I can assume that you want to read a (slightly) dirty story.

Oh, before I forget, this is set when Ranma was/is engaged to Nabiki.

* * *

Kasumi Tendo was bored. Not the sort of bored that children get when they can't watch TV or go out and play, but the sort of ennui that people get when they realise that they're living in a rut. 

Normally this feeling tends to set in with middle age, but Kasumi Tendo was a mere nineteen years old.

She looked at the rest of her family over the tea set she'd brought in after their evening meal. Akane was still angry about the way Ranma and her sister, Nabiki, had seemingly ganged up on her earlier and the way her manipulative sister was flaunting her new toy – Ranma.

Ranma was trying not to look too embarrassed by Nabiki's overt affection.

The fathers were looking on in approval.

Kasumi sighed and then excused herself. When her father asked if she was feeling ill, she replied, "I'm all right, I'm just feeling a bit tired tonight."

"Oh, ok," Soun replied, his concern subsiding.

Nabiki thought that she knew Kasumi better than anyone. She decided to stop teasing Ranma and left to follow her sister.

* * *

Upstairs, Kasumi sat on her bed before falling backwards. The air that came out of her lungs sounded like a depressed sigh. 

A knock on the door caught her attention. "Yes?"

Nabiki opened the door. "Are you ok, sis?"

Kasumi nodded, hoping that her sister would leave her alone.

Nabiki would have left it at that, but something bothered her about the whole situation. "You can tell me, Nee-chan."

"I'm tired."

"Tired?" Nabiki asked, moving in to the room proper and closing the door behind her. "There's more to it than you just feeling sleepy, Kasumi."

"I'm tired of being lonely," Kasumi replied, though her sister could hear the fatigue in her voice. "Why isn't there anyone for me?"

"You mean that you want someone to go on a date with you?" Nabiki asked, feeling a little guilty that her sister had put her life on hold for the family.

"Yes," Kasumi sighed. It had been a few weeks since Doctor Tofu had vanished off the face of the Earth.

Nabiki, now sitting, hugged her sister. "I'll look into setting one up for you."

This had the intended effect of cheering up Kasumi. "Thanks, Nabiki."

* * *

Nabiki sat down on her chair to start thinking about solving Kasumi's problem. 

"Damn Tofu for disappearing," she cursed. "Not that he could control himself when he was around Kasumi."

She thought about the other men in the neighbourhood, but while there were those that would jump at the chance to date her attractive older sister, she didn't think that any of them would suit her sister.

There was a knock at Nabiki's door. When she called out "Enter", she saw that it was Kasumi's turn to visit her.

"Kasumi?"

"I've had an idea," the eldest Tendo girl said in a quiet voice. "About who I could go on the date with."

"Let's hear it," Nabiki said enthusiastically. "If I can help, I will."

Kasumi's face coloured slightly as she sat down on her sister's bed. "I want to go out with Ranma for an evening."

Nabiki raised an eyebrow. "Ranma?"

"Yes," Kasumi nodded as she fiddled with the hem of her dress. She turned to her sister.

Nabiki sighed. "Why him?"

"Because he'd be more interesting than any of the other local men. Plus I know that him well enough to know he won't do something improper. I can pay you the fee of 10,000 yen for the evening."

Nabiki winced; it seemed that her sister had heard about her renting out Ranma for dates and the school's sports teams

"Please, for me?"

Nabiki would have steeled her self against such a blatant ploy if it were any other person. "When we you thinking of going out?"

"As soon as possible," Kasumi eagerly said.

"I can fit you in tomorrow at 7," Nabiki said after checking her organiser. "That is if you're sure about this."

Kasumi looked in her sister's eyes. "I am, Nabiki."

"Well in that case, if you get him home before 10.30 tomorrow, I won't charge you. One minute later and I'll charge you half rate as a penalty. Rules are rules, after all. And, you don't want to worry Daddy, do you?"

Kasumi nodded thankfully and hugged Nabiki. "Thank you."

"Don't worry about it, just be careful, I'm sure he'll do his best to keep you safe, but you what crazies are after him," Nabiki advised. "Not that I see the attraction myself."

Kasumi wasn't so sure about Nabiki's protestations, but said nothing.

* * *

The next morning, Kasumi seemed to have a new lease on life. The breakfast portions were larger and the lunches were of a higher standard than normal. 

As the Tendos and the Saotomes ate the quality cuisine, Kasumi let everybody know that she had plans for the evening and that they'd have to fend for themselves for their evening meal.

Soun asked his first born child where she was going and if she was going to be all right.

"I shall be fine, Father," Kasumi said in a reassuring voice, "I'll be with a friend of mine."

"Ok then," Soun turned his attention to the morning paper.

With that, the rest of the meal was eaten in silence, though Ranma start to feel uneasy at the attention he was now receiving from the older Tendo sisters.

* * *

After an uneventful day at school, Ranma walked home with his fiancée, wondering why she was keeping an eye on him. 

"Is something wrong, Nabiki?" he asked, jumping down in front of her.

"What? No, it's just something that Kasumi said to me last night," Nabiki answered.

"Is she ok?" Ranma asked, worried about his potential future sister-in-law.

"Yeah, she's fine. Why are you so worried about her?" Nabiki asked with a playful smile. "Are you worried about Akane having to cook?"

"I wasn't until you brought it up," Ranma said with a grimace.

"Well you don't have to worry about that for tonight," Nabiki started cryptically.

"Why not?" Ranma asked. "I thought that Kasumi was going out tonight and you didn't want to pay for my share of the take-out after the last time."

The last time Ranma had been part of the takeaway food order, the bill had come to nearly 11,000 yen. Genma had been training with Soun and the master, so he was completely blame-free for this incidence of gluttony.

"Well, I've made plans for you this evening."

"Plans?" Ranma asked angrily. "I suppose that I've got no say in this, right?"

"Damn right, Saotome," Nabiki almost said, if only to see his reaction. The middle Tendo daughter often thought about Ranma becoming forceful with her, and those thoughts often led to masturbating to naked pictures of the Saotome boy.

Instead, Nabiki just grinned at Ranma. It was not a pleasant facial expression.

"Fine," Ranma sighed in resignation. "But this is the last time. I live at the Tendo Dojo, not the Tendo Car Rental Emporium!"

"Don't worry Ranma," Nabiki smirked, "I'm sure that your date will return you undamaged and with a full tank of gas."

"What, am I going out for a curry?" Ranma asked in mock stupidity. "And the last time you rented me out, fucking Kodachi started wheeling out her trolley of S&M toys. I barely got out of there in one piece!"

To Nabiki's credit, she managed not to even snicker at Ranma's tale of misfortune, but did make a note to TRY to keep the crazier types from trying to have their way with Ranma.

Of course if one of those "less stable" types happened to offer her a sum that was well above the going rate, then she might reconsider.

"Don't worry, Ranma, I'm sure that this girl will take good care of you."

Ranma didn't look too convinced, but said nothing.

* * *

When 7 o'clock rolled around, Kasumi stood at the front door to the Tendo house waiting for Ranma. She was wearing a conservatively cut light blue dress, one that matched Ranma's eyes. A few seconds later, Ranma, dressed in his Mao suit, dropped from the top of the stairs. 

"Oh, hello, Kasumi. It seems that I'm going out tonight as well."

Kasumi just smiled pleasantly, though she got a nasty feeling that Nabiki had neglected to tell Ranma something.

"Well, I was told that I was meeting my date here at 7. I wonder where she is," he asked rhetorically.

Five minutes passed, and Ranma grew impatient. "Well, she's not here and your date seems to have better things to do tonight. I say we have two choices."

"And they are?" Kasumi asked, now knowing what Nabiki hadn't done.

"First we could decide 'screw those jerks', and we go out together," Ranma said with a smile when he faced Kasumi. "Or we stay at home. And frankly, Akane is a bit grouchy this evening."

Kasumi moved her hand to her face to hide her giggle.

An embarrassed Ranma rubbed the back of his head and asked Kasumi the 100,000 yen question. "So, since we're all dressed up, would you like to go out for the evening?"

Kasumi's face lit up when she realised her sister's plan. "I'd love to, Ranma. In fact, I think that we can use my reservations."

* * *

The young couple walked to their destination, a small restaurant that served traditional Japanese food called the Ureshii Yagi. 

Kasumi had thought it an appropriate destination when she considered her date for the evening, though she did know some of the staff there and was well aware of the food quality.

Ranma took the odd sounding name in his stride, having seen many bizarre things in his time.

"I hear that the yakitori here is so tender, it melts in the mouth," Kasumi pointed out when they were seated.

"Is anything else good here?" Ranma asked as he looked over the menu.

"I hear that the vegetable skewers are also very good," Kasumi said, feeling slightly conspicuous.

"Is everything alright, Kasumi?" Ranma asked before scanning the room for trouble. "You seem upset about something."

This settled Kasumi down a little, making her feel that this was a proper date and not one where she'd been forced to coerce her companion into attending.

"I will be, Ranma-kun," Kasumi said with a sweet smile. "Shall I order for us?"

"Make it a decent amount, I'm hungry," Ranma answered, slightly embarrassed by the admission.

* * *

Back at the Tendo dojo, there was a knock at the door. 

Nabiki resigned herself to the task since Akane was still in a mood and the fathers were slightly drunk as they played go.

When she opened the door, Nabiki was surprised to see a middle aged woman wearing a kimono and carrying a long, thin bundle.

"Can I help you?"

"Hello there, sorry to bother you at this time in the evening, but I'm looking for my husband Genma Saotome and my son, Ranma," the coppered haired woman explained. "I was told that they were staying here."

"And you are?" Nabiki asked suspicious of the woman's motives.

"Oh, sorry for not introducing myself," the lady bowed to Nabiki. "My name is Nodoka Saotome."

Soun waddled over to the door, wondering what all the fuss was. "Can I help you, madam?"

"I hope so, I was told that I could find my husband and son here," Nodoka smiled hopefully. "I'm Nodoka Saotome."

"Genma is inside, but I don't know where Ranma is at the moment," Soun informed the woman. "I am sorry about that."

"I know where Ranma is," Nabiki spoke up. "He's with Kasumi at the moment. They should be back by 10.30."

"Well, if I could, I'd like to stay so I can meet them," Nodoka bowed again, hoping that she had finally caught up with he family. "I'd like to speak with Genma in the mean time."

A certain martial artist with a stocky build heard this and started to sweat.

"Certainly," Soun insisted, not knowing the chain of events he was setting into motion. "Genma is right this way. Nabiki, would you be so kind as to bring in some tea?"

Nabiki smiled, but cursed inwardly as she remembered that Kasumi was the one that was the one with the hostess' skills.

* * *

At the Ureshii Yagi, Ranma was trying not to embarrass his companion with his poor table manners, though it was a bit of a challenge for him. 

Seeing that Ranma was not terribly comfortable, Kasumi asked Ranma about some of his adventures during his training trip.

Ranma smiled at the brunette. "Where do you want me to start?"

"Have you ever been to Okinawa?" Kasumi enquired. "I've wanted to visit there for a while, but I've never had the chance."

"Yeah, I've been there. What can I tell you about Okinawa?" Ranma stroked his chin as he pondered for a moment. "I know."

Ranma's hand shot out from touching his face to snatch a skewer of chicken.

Kasumi blinked, barely seeing anything out of the ordinary until she realised that Ranma was eating.

"Hebi-ken," Ranma smiled after swallowing the grilled meat. "It has its disadvantages, though."

"You seem to do all right with it, Ranma-kun," Kasumi dryly noted.

Ranma smiled as he got to explain about his favourite subject. "Ah, but you see, every style of martial arts has a weakness. Hebi-ken's primary one is that it focuses on using the arms. The master of Hebi-ken has excellent upper body strength, but his legs are weak in comparison.

"If I was to take up kendo, then I'd be great, not just because I'm the one of the best, but because I can use the skills I picked up from Hebi-ken – lightning strikes and twisting my body around thrusts."

"You make it sound like you're invincible," Kasumi said, slightly tired of Ranma's arrogance. This was one of the reasons she hadn't taken up the engagement when Akane had broken it off.

"I'm not," Ranma admitted in a quiet voice that Kasumi barely heard, "I've got a long way to go before I am."

"I didn't expect Ranma to make that kind of admission on a first date," Kasumi mused silently.

"So what about you?" Ranma asked, quickly recovering for his mild depression.

"What about me?" Kasumi asked, unsure as to why anyone would want to know about her.

"Everyone knows about me, but nobody knows nothing about you. What did you want to be when you were a girl?"

Kasumi was taken aback by Ranma's interest in her. She'd assumed that Ranma was only nice to her to get extra food at meal times.

"It's been a long time since I was asked that question," Kasumi said with a smile that quickly turned to a frown when she realised that her childhood dreams were slowly slipping away from her.

Ranma saw the change on Kasumi's face and started to panic. 'Oh shit, I've make Kasumi angry.'

Not that Ranma's expression was exactly hard to read. Ever.

"You've not made me angry, Ranma-kun," the brunette said in her soft voice. "It's just that I've wanted to be a veterinarian since I was a girl and that I'm getting on in years."

Ranma blinked. At 19, Kasumi was thinking of herself as nearly over the hill? No, that did not sit right with Ranma.

* * *

Back at the Tendo house, Genma was panicking about Nodoka's presence. 

"So then, dearest husband, where is Ranma?"

"He, er, where is he again?"

Nabiki sighed. "Ranma is out on a date with Kasumi since hers didn't show."

"My son is out on a date with a girl?" Nodoka asked, hope filling her.

Nabiki nodded.

"Is she pretty?"

"Kasumi is very pretty, Mrs. Saotome," Nabiki answered, but her tone left a hint that she considered Ranma beneath her eldest sister.

"What's up with my son?" Nodoka asked, picking up on the unspoken insinuation. "Is he not very manly?"

"What's with your obsession with manliness?" Nabiki countered. "You make it sound like it's a matter of life and death."

A parchment was produced from the inside of Nodoka's kimono, showing the room why Ranma's masculinity was of paramount importance.

"For Ranma it is," Nodoka said, staring Nabiki straight in the eye. "Genma promised that he'd raise Ranma to be a 'Man among Men', or they'd both commit seppuku."

A wide eyed Soun looked at his old training partner with disbelief. "B-but Jusenkyo…"

"What's Jusenkyo?" Nodoka asked, puzzled by the foreign sounding name.

"It's a place where Ranma got cursed. Here look," Nabiki said as she splashed the sweating Saotome.

Nodoka was speechless when she saw her husband turn into a panda.

"Ranma has a different curse," Soun added. "He turns into a girl."

"That's not very manly," Nodoka said sadly.

"But it's not his fault that he changes into a cute redhead," Nabiki chimed in. She may not have liked Ranma in the way Shampoo, Ukyo or Kodachi did, but she knew that Ranma had potential.

"What do you mean?" Nodoka asked the middle Tendo daughter.

"Well," Nabiki started as she got comfortable, "Genma was the one that knocked Ranma fall into the pool. He was the one that didn't heed the guide's warnings."

Ok, so it was Genma that was the Saotome that Nabiki despised.

"So Genma's the one to blame?"

"Yes," Nabiki said as she refilled the teacups.

* * *

Back at the Ureshii Yagi, Ranma was trying to think of a way to cheer up Kasumi. 

"Would you like to see something cool?"

"Yes," Kasumi answered, wondering what Ranma would consider "cool".

After sitting up on his knees, the pigtailed boy held up a used bamboo skewer with his left hand and a piece of onion with his right. He pierced the onion to show that the skewer was solid.

Using the wedge of grilled vegetable as a weapon, he chopped the culinary spear in two. As he did this, his head jerked backwards ever so slightly.

"What do you think?" Ranma asked, handing the pieces of bamboo to his date.

"Impressive," Kasumi murmured she inspected the clean cut. "How did you did do it?"

"That's not it," Ranma replied.

"And just what is the trick?" Kasumi asked, wondering just how much Ranma was showing off.

Ranma said nothing, instead turning to look at the ceiling behind him.

Kasumi was about to ask when she saw that Ranma's hair was now unbraided and hanging freely behind him.

"Your hair! How and when did you do that?" Kasumi asked, now sounding suitably impressed. "I was watching you the whole time."

Moving his leg over the table, Ranma showed Kasumi what he had between his toes – his hair restraint. "Not too shabby, eh?"

"When did you learn to undo knots with your toes?" Kasumi asked, still slightly stunned that a human could be that flexible and have toes like fingers. "With your socks on, no less."

"Pops insisted that I should be able to untie basic knots with my toes, in case I needed to escape. I think he said that it was something that he wished he'd been able to do when he was training with the Old Freak. I can only undo basic knots and fasteners, nothing fancy."

"I think that that's fancy enough, Ranma-kun."

Ranma smiled at the praise, but was still slightly nervous. It was as if he was expecting people to pop out of the woodwork and attack either him or his date.

Kasumi was still a little under-whelmed by this date with Ranma, and Nerima's best known troublemaker picked up on it. Not wanting Kasumi to complain to her sister, Ranma decided to show off some of his more traditional skills.

Picking up a napkin, Ranma guessed his date what sort of animal she liked best. "A pony," he decided, confusing Kasumi.

With a number of precise folds on the paper napkin that seemed to take no time at all, Ranma presented his gift to Kasumi with a "Ta-da".

Kasumi blinked as she realised that the napkin was now a piece of origami. "Where did you pick that up?"

Ranma scratched his head as he tried to remember where it was that he learned some of his more esoteric martial arts skills. "I think I was in Kobe."

"Oh. Is there anything you can't do, in origami, I mean?" Kasumi asked, slightly envious of Ranma's ability to pick up skills and techniques so quickly.

"I don't know, Kasumi, I never really gave it much thought. Are you any good at origami?"

"I was never very good at school," Kasumi admitted.

"Would you like to practice with me?" Ranma asked with an honest smile.

"Yes, I'd like that," Kasumi smiled back. The brunette's eyes flicked to the clock on the wall. "Oh my, it's 10.15."

Ranma blinked as he turned to the clock. "It's that time already?"

"We've got to go, Ranma-kun. I promised Father that I'd be back before 10.30."

"But it took 15 minutes to walk here and we've not had the bill yet," Ranma reminded his date.

Kasumi was becoming a little flustered at the situation. While she wasn't too fussed about the fine that Nabiki would charge her, she didn't want to upset her father.

"Don't worry, Kasumi," Ranma said in his most reassuring voice, "I'll get us home on time and in one piece. That's a promise."

* * *

Back at the dojo, Nodoka was considering what Nabiki had told her. 'If Ranma does actually have this curse, he can hardly be considered a "Man among Men". But if this Nabiki's story is to be believed, then it was Genma's fault that Ranma is like that,' Nodoka pondered the situation. "Has this curse changed who Ranma is inside?" 

"Not that we can tell," Nabiki answered. "He's as stubborn and uncultured in either form."

"Hmm," was the only sound Nodoka made at that piece of information. 'So if the curse doesn't change what kind of man he is, then I really should discount it as best I can. Of course, that does mean that I need to be stricter with the other criteria.'

Nodoka drained her teacup. "I think that I will need to speak with Ranma before I can make even my preliminary decision."

"Yes!" Genma blurted out, hoping for even a small chance of escaping a blade in the stomach. "That's an excellent idea. I can't expect you to make a snap decision on a death contract."

Nodoka wondered when her husband had become such a pathetic human being.

"Who looks after the house?" Mrs. Saotome asked, curious as to whom it was that kept the dust at bay.

"That would be my eldest daughter, Kasumi," Soun answered. "She took over following the death of my wife, Reiko."

"And what do you do to keep the lights on and food on the table?" Nodoka continued her inquisition.

"What's it to you?" Nabiki asked defensively. 'If she finds out how I've been treating Ranma, we could be in serious trouble.'

"I'm simply inquiring into what sort of family my son has been staying with since his return to civilisation," Nodoka replied. "I'm curious to know how he's been treated since he arrived and how he behaved as a guest."

"How who's been behaving as a guest?" a new voice asked from the doorway.

"My son, Ranma," Nodoka answered as she turned to face the new girl.

"This is my youngest daughter, Akane," Soun introduced the newcomer.

"I'm Ranma's mother, Nodoka Saotome," Nodoka said with a bow.

"Hello," Akane said politely before turning to leave.

"What do you think of my son?" Nodoka asked before Akane could leave them in peace.

"Ranma is a jerk, plain and simple. I've asked him several times to spar with me, but won't take me seriously. He keeps insulting me, ignoring the fact that he's hardly perfection himself. He's got an ego the size of Kanto, made worse by these floozies that call themselves fiancées that he keeps around him," Akane huffed.

Nodoka blinked and turned to Nabiki for her response to her sister's answers.

"She's absolutely right," Nabiki answered with a shrug, though her tone suggested that there was more to the situation.

"But?"

"There are girls that are still willing to pay for dates with him. You should have heard some of the offers I get as his fiancée." Nabiki winced as she realised that she'd said a bit too much.

"Hang on a minute," Nodoka raised her hand, "I thought you said that Ranma was on a date with your sister, Kasumi. Why is Ranma with someone else if you're his fiancée?"

Soun, in a rare bout of brain activity, jumped in with an answer. "Ranma is engaged to all of my daughters until we can be sure of the best match."

Nodoka smiled at that white lie. "So that's what Akane meant by multiple fiancées: Ranma is seeing which girl he's best matched with instead of forcing him into a loveless relationship."

"Yes," Soun and Genma nodded in agreement.

"But why would Akane have such a low opinion of her own sisters?" Nodoka was puzzled.

"I never called Kasumi a floozy!" Akane insisted. "I was talking about Shampoo, Kodachi and Ukyo!"

"And just who are they?" Nodoka demanded.

All eyes turned to Genma.

"I can explain. Just let me do it from a safe distance, say Outer Mongolia."

As the heavy set man inched towards the porch exit, Ranma descended from his leap over the wall with a blushing Kasumi in his arms.

"Going somewhere Pops?" he asked as he gently placed Kasumi inside the house.

"Ranma?" Nodoka asked hesitantly.

"Who wants to know?"

"I'm your mother."

"My mom?" Ranma asked as he looked the kimono-clad woman over. "And why should I believe you?"

"Because I have proof," Nodoka replied as she pulled out a photo of her and a child sized Ranma.

After recognising himself in the picture, Ranma leapt at the woman and gave her a powerful hug. "Momma!"

After a moment, the pair separated and Nodoka began to appraise her only child. 'He seems manly enough.'

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Ranma asked, still slightly stunned that his mother had been appeared now of all times.

"Well, I would like to get to know my only child," Nodoka said in a slightly teasing tone. "But I do realise that you have been on a date and you are probably tired."

"I'm a little," Ranma admitted. "But if you want to talk, I'll stay up as long as you want me to."

Nodoka smiled at Ranma's willingness to accommodate her. "Sit down and tell me about your date this evening."

Taking up a place by the table, Ranma thought how to best word his response. "It was nice."

"In what way was it nice?" Nodoka asked politely.

"Well, the food was good and I wasn't attacked," Ranma clarified.

"Are you regularly attacked when you're out with women?"

"Yes," Ranma nodded. "Sometimes it's fiancées, sometimes it's jealous rivals."

"Jealous rivals?" Nodoka asked, leaning in.

"Well, yeah," Ranma answered. "Shampoo has this obsessed nimrod chasing after her, claiming that 'I'm an obstacle to his happiness with his Darling Shampoo'. Kuno's been trying to date Akane since before I got here."

Nodoka took in Ranma's comments.

"And what about all the times you go off to see your other girlfriends?" Akane interjected. "I mean you won't eat my cooking, but you'll eat Shampoo and Ukyo's."

"That's because their food don't taste like ass!" Ranma shot back.

"Fine!" Akane huffed. "Be like that. See if I help you the next time you need it!"

As Akane stormed off to her room, Nodoka turned to the fathers. "I think that we can safely assume that Ranma and Akane aren't going to get married."

"But who will run the dojo with Ranma?" Soun wailed, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"We'll sort something out, Father," Kasumi reassured the human fountain.

Nodoka looked at her son's date. 'Hmm, she is attractive.' "Tell me, Kasumi-chan, what did you like about your evening?"

"I liked the pony that Ranma-kun gave me," Kasumi smiled as she showed the room her gift of origami. "Oh, is that the front door?"

Kasumi left to answer the door.

"You did that?" Genma demanded from his son. "What were you thinking, wasting your time learning useless skills instead of training?"

"HEY!" Ranma shouted at the rotund man. "I learnt those skills in Kobe, when you sold me to that family!"

Nodoka focused her steely gaze on her troublesome husband. "You. Did. What?"

"I tried to round off his training so he'd have a chance at a normal life," Genma lied. "That's why I let him train with the Imagawa family."

"Who?" Soun asked. There was nagging feeling in the back of his brain that he should know that name.

"The Imagawas of Kobe," a male voice replied from the doorway. "I remember you, Soun Tendo. Which one of these girls is your first born daughter?"

"DADDY!" the Tendo girls shouted at their father.

"ACK!"

* * *

To be continued…? 

This was pre-read by Chi Vayne, he thinks that this story becoming a lemon would be entertaining, do you?

If this story does take a turn for the sordid, this first chapter will remain as so, but subsequent bits will have "the good stuff". Obviously I will have to make sure that it's posted in a suitable place.

Yes, there will be humour, as I like to laugh and there is a good chance of some darker scenes, if only to indulge my sadistic nature.

Let me know what you think in a review or email.

Until laterer comes.


	2. Chapter 2

Final Straws

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: Internet is for porn.

* * *

Chapter 2

scene change

"So you must be Tendo's first born, eh?" Daisuke Imagawa asked as he cast an appraising eye over Kasumi.

"Father, what's going on?" the normally calm and collected brunette asked.

"I can explain!" Soun insisted.

"Well, Daddy?" Nabiki asked, her voice much more shrill and unpleasant than normal. "Well? Well? Well? Well? Well? Well?"

* * *

Kasumi's brown eyes shot open when the noise in her room became unbearable. It took several seconds before she realised that it wasn't her sister asking what was going on, but rather her alarm clock going off.

"That was a rather unusual dream," the Tendo chef mused as she prepared for her normal morning routine of caring for her family. "Though, I wonder what it would be like if Ranma-kun actually was able to be nice like he was in my dream."

* * *

The day progressed as what passed for normal for Ranma Saotome and his friends and fiancées. That means the martial artist in question was challenged for various reasons and Nabiki decided that she could still wring some money out of her engagement to him.

It was that sort of "care and affection" that made the young Saotome question the mercenary girl's motives. So after the evening meal, he decided to investigate.

Clinging to the ceiling outside Nabiki's room, Ranma hoped to get an idea what his fiancée was up to since the engagement had been switched from Akane.

He felt that his suspicions were justified when he heard that Nabiki wasn't serious when she told him that she loved him.

"Really Nabiki, you shouldn't play with Ranma-kun's emotions like that," Kasumi admonished. "What if he decides that he doesn't want to stay here?"

"Look Kasumi, that idiot's got no clue about the real world," Nabiki explained. "As far as he's concerned, it's martial arts. Nothing else matters to him. I don't know about you, but I don't want to be engaged to someone like that."

"So you think that because he's cute but dumb, it's ok to take advantage of him?" the elder Tendo daughter asked, hiding her displeasure.

The shorter haired brunette sighed. "I know it looks bad, but I'm not going to let it go too far. I mean, do you know how much I made off him today?"

Kasumi was about to chide her sister when she heard a faint noise from outside the room. "I've got something that I need to attend to, so I'll let you finish your homework, Nabiki."

"Ok."

* * *

A furious Ranma began to pack his bag when he heard a knock at the spare bedroom door.

"Ranma-kun?"

"Yeah? What is it?" the pigtailed martial artist snapped irritably.

"Can I talk to you?" Kasumi asked through the gap in the door.

"Yeah," Ranma sighed, slightly embarrassed that he'd lost his rag with the nice Tendo.

Kasumi entered the room and shut the door behind her. "Ranma-kun, I take it you heard what Nabiki said."

"Yeah," the young Saotome replied, his anger building again. "I know I ain't the smartest guy in Nerima, but I know when I ain't welcome!"

The Tendo homemaker winced. "But what about family honour?"

"What about it? It's making me miserable, so fuck it! I'm leaving. Hell, I think I'll leave Japan," Ranma snorted.

"But…" Kasumi started.

"What? What is that you're gonna say that's going to make me stay?" the surly youth asked as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Honour means so much to you," the brunette said earnestly.

"Yeah, well it obviously means nothing to Nabiki or anyone else!" Ranma accused.

"It does mean something to me," Kasumi insisted.

"And how you gonna prove it?" the young Saotome asked in bored tone.

"I-I'll accept the engagement."

"What, we playin' musical fiancées now?" Ranma scowled.

"That's not what I meant, Ranma-kun," Kasumi protested with a hurt look on her face.

Ranma stepped up to his visitor. "Then what did you mean? You really want to be married to me? Do ya like the idea of sleeping with me?"

"…" The brunette swallowed, her throat suddenly dry as the martial artist's blue eyes transfixed her.

"I didn't think so," the martial artist snorted before turning his attention back to his packing.

"I-I'll do it, Ranma-kun."

"You'll do what?" Ranma asked, turning back to face Kasumi.

"I'll do whatever it takes to make the engagement work," the Tendo homemaker clarified her statement.

"And what did you have in mind?" the pigtailed youth asked, folding his arms across his chest. "'Cos you know, since I got here, I don't think I had a day without some kinda abuse."

Kasumi looked at her feet in shame. "I'm sorry Ranma-kun."

"And what're ya gonna do about it?" Ranma asked in the sternest tone he could manage.

"I don't kn-" the brunette started. "What do you want me to do for you, Ranma-kun?"

The blue eyed Saotome shrugged. "I dunno. What if I wanted to do something, you know, perverted with you?"

"But you never tried anything like that before…"

"Oh, so NOW you're on my side!" Ranma growled, causing the young woman in front of him to flinch in fear. "Nope, not convinced that you're serious. I'm outta here."

"Please stay, Ranma-kun," Kasumi begged, her eyes starting to water.

The young Saotome sighed, not really wanting to hurt the Tendo homemaker. "Ya know, I suppose if I had a fiancée that cared about me, I might wanna stick around… You do care about me, don't you?"

"I do, Ranma-kun," the brunette said solemnly.

"Ok then," the martial artist smiled for the first time during the conversation. "You wanna tell our old men that you wanna be engaged to me?"

"What will I tell them?"

"Anything you want."

* * *

Soun sat quietly pondering his next move at the go board. He had managed to blot out the inane ramblings that his training partner frequently used as a distraction technique.

"Father," Kasumi interrupted with her usual pleasant tone.

"What is it, Kasumi?" the moustachioed man asked, unable to refuse his eldest daughter anything.

"I want you to switch the engagement to me."

"What? Why?" Mr. Tendo asked.

"Because I think that it's the only way the schools can be joined, father," Kasumi explained.

"But I don't see what the problem with Ranma marrying Nabiki is," Soun relied with a confused look on his face.

"Maybe it's because she's treating this as a chance to make some quick cash," Ranma added from the doorway.

"Boy, what are you up to now?" Genma demanded after he finished moving a few pieces on the board.

"Shut your fat face, old man. This don't concern you. This is the last chance to 'unite the schools' cos I've had enough of being treated like shit. Kasumi's got one week of being my fiancée to convince me to stay here. If it don't work out, then I'm gone for good," the pigtailed Saotome said in a stern tone.

"Does family honour mean nothing to you?" the portly man asked angrily.

"No, not really."

The room feel silent.

"Boy, you better have a good explanation for this, or I'll make you sorry!" Genma warned as he approached his disobedient child.

Ranma was not having any of the hypocritical man's bluster and after a lightning quick punch to the solar plexus, silenced any further unnecessary noise from him.

"Like I said, this is your last chance to unite the schools. Otherwise, I'm outta here," the pigtailed youth said with a shrug. "I'm gonna get some sleep. Let me know what you're doing in the morning."

"Oh why was I cursed with such a dishonourable son," the balding Saotome wheezed loudly.

"Wrong thing to say, old man," Ranma smirked before he dragged his father away for some punishment.

* * *

Ranma had a nice night's sleep after he left his unconscious father in the dojo. After a few stretches, he made his way downstairs.

He stopped by the kitchen to see Kasumi preparing breakfast.

"Kasumi, what did you decide?"

"Ranma-kun!" the brunette spun around in surprise. "I wasn't expecting you to be up this early."

"Well, I got a decent night's sleep for once, so here I am at 6.15am. So, what did you decide last night? Do I have a fiancée or am I on me way?"

"We changed the engagement over to me," Kasumi answered.

"Well then, let me help my fiancée with the breakfast. What can I do to help?"

Ranma's latest fiancée blinked. "Pardon?"

"Err, you're my fiancée, aren't you? So we help each other out when we can," the Saotome heir explained. "I didn't do that the last couple o' times and it didn't work out, so I thought that I better try something different seein' as how, you know…"

"Oh, all right then. Could you please start by filling the rice cooker, Ranma-kun?" Kasumi asked with smile.

"Certainly, my dear Kasumi," Ranma said as he returned the smile.

* * *

Breakfast was an interesting affair with Nabiki and Akane not quite believing that their innocent sister would really want to be engaged to the trouble-magnet that was Ranma Saotome.

Though Kasumi looked a little bit more refreshed, as if something had made her morning chores easier.

"So then, Ranma, what are you up to?" the middle Tendo asked herself. "And why would Kasumi agree to being engaged to Ranma?"

Akane was also thinking about the engagement between her former fiancé and her eldest sister. "I'm watching you, Ranma!"

"What?" the pigtailed Saotome asked.

"I'm watching you, Ranma! I'm going to make sure that don't force yourself on Kasumi," the youngest Tendo warned. "I know what you're like!"

Ranma shrugged, but remained silent as he continued to eat his breakfast.

Nabiki noticed this change in Ranma and scanned the room for something out of the ordinary.

'What is going on with him?' she asked herself when nothing seemed out of place.

A knock at the door interrupted the meal.

"I'll get it," Kasumi said, though no-one else other than Ranma made even a token gesture that they would answer the door.

The Saotome heir followed his fiancée to the front door.

* * *

"Can I help you?" Kasumi asked the bulky man in a black suit.

"Yes, I'm looking for Kasumi Tendo."

"That's me, what can I do for you?" the brunette asked with her usual smile.

"Well, the thing is, we need to collect on this debt," a second, slimmer man answered, holding up a signed contract.

"What debt? I haven't signed any loan agreements," the Tendo homemaker frowned.

"Well, this is your hanko, is it not?" the slimmer man asked. "And we are at the Tendo Dojo. The evidence is against you."

"If you don't have the money, then there are other ways to repay the debt," the larger man grinned lecherously.

Ranma cracked his knuckles loudly. "Is everything alright, Kasumi?" he asked in a forced tone as he approached the visitors at the door.

"Who are you?" the stocky man growled.

"I'm Ranma Saotome, I'm Kasumi's fiancé. And I don't like the way you're talking to her," the martial artist said in a warning tone as he flexed his muscles.

"Yeah, well you look like a punk to me," the slimmer yakuza snorted. "Step aside and let us collect this gambling debt."

"You two like hospital food? If not, then fuck off. That is your final warning," Ranma growled angrily.

"Do you like the taste of steel, punk?" the yakuza retorted as he pulled out a tanto.

Ranma's fists blurred, breaking the faces of both yakuza in seconds.

The pigtailed youth hoisted the pair up by their necks. "If I ever see either of you two bothering Kasumi again, I'll kill you."

He turned to face Kasumi, who was reading the document.

"This was dated three weeks ago…" the brunette noted in a quiet voice. "That's when I misplaced my hanko."

"One moment, Kasumi," Ranma smiled before grabbing the least incapacitated thug. "Do you know who signed this contract?"

"A g-girl," the man mumbled. "S-short b-brown hair."

"Thanks," the raven haired teenager smiled before throwing the unsavoury visitors off the Tendo property.

Dusting his hands off, Ranma looked at his fiancée. "What now?"

"I think that we should have a little talk with Nabiki," Kasumi frowned.

* * *

The affianced pair walked back into the house in silence.

"Is something up, Kasumi?" Soun asked, looking up from his paper.

"No, Father," the brunette shook her head. "But I need to have a word in private with Nabiki after I was the breakfast dishes."

"Oh, ok then," the Tendo patriarch nodded before turning his attention back to his newspaper.

Putting a piece of paper in her apron pocket, Kasumi gestured to her sister to meet her in the common room for a discreet word.

scene change

"What's up, Kasumi?" Nabiki asked innocently.

"Oh, nothing much, I was just wondering what this loan agreement was doing with my hanko stamped on it, that's all."

The middle daughter managed to keep her face neutral as she scanned the incriminating document in front of her. "Most odd."

"Yeah, well two yakuza thugs arrived at the door askin' for Kasumi," Ranma added walking into the room with a scowl on his face.

"Well, if you hadn't caused so much damage to the house, this would've been taken care of," Nabiki replied. "So it's your fault we're being harassed by these unsavoury criminal types."

"Wait, so it's MY fault you brought Kasumi into this?" the pigtailed martial artist asked incredulously. "How d'ya work that out?"

"That's not what I said, Ranma!" the short haired Tendo shot back.

"But you did bring me into this, Nabiki. Do you have any idea what would have happened if Ranma-kun hadn't been here?" Kasumi admonished, causing her sister to gulp nervously. "Our families' honour would have been tarnished irrevocably."

"Well, I doubt that, Kasumi. I mean, who really gives a damn about family honour these days?"

"I see," the Tendo homemaker replied with more than a hint of dismay in her voice.

Before she could say or do anything more, the doorbell rang.

"This discussion isn't over yet, Nabiki," Ranma warned as he followed his fiancée to the front door.

* * *

A black suited man stood at the door, the third of the day.

"Can I help you?" Kasumi asked, feeling a little bit nervous.

"I'm here to take a Kasumi Tendo and a Ranma Saotome to a meeting."

"And you are and who are we meeting with?" Ranma asked, stepping between the visitor and his fiancée.

"I'm Makoto Tanaka, I'm acting on behalf of my boss. She is the one that you signed a contract with."

"Good, I need to have a word with your boss," the young Saotome growled.

"If you'll step this way," Tanaka gestured to the black luxury sedan outside the gates.

* * *

Fujiko Ohmura sat in the reception room waiting for the impertinent duo that two of her lackeys had had trouble dealing with.

'I knew a Ranma Saotome, I wonder if it's…' the refined lady mused silently as her nails were manicured.

"Lady Ohmura," a short, stocky man of around thirty interrupted politely, "Ranma Saotome and Kasumi Tendo are here as you requested."

"Very good, send them in after you've checked them for weapons," the kimono wearing gangster instructed.

A few minutes late, Ranma strode into the expensively decorated room. "I take it you're in charge?"

"And you must be Ranma Saotome. I don't like it when my employees are injured," Fujiko replied pointedly. "And what is it that you wanted to discuss with me?"

"I want you to release Kasumi from this debt."

"I didn't borrow the money, my sister, Nabiki, did," Kasumi explained.

"And is this 'Nabiki' person going to repay the 780,000 yen owed? Somebody has to pay it back and as your name is on the contract, I don't see why it shouldn't be you."

The pigtailed martial artist growled and was about to approach the yakuza boss when a servant girl appeared with a tray of cold drinks. So upset with state of affairs, Ranma didn't dodge when the girl tripped.

"Excuse me, but what just happened? Why are you now a girl?" Fujiko asked, intrigued by the apparent instant disguise her visitor had. 'That could prove useful to the organisation…'

"Jusenkyo curse," the redhead replied as she wiped the water from her face. "Hot water changes me back. Now, about this contract…"

On cue, Kasumi pulled out the copy of the agreement that had been left at her house. The brunette scanned the document. "Oh my!"

"What's up, Kasumi?" Ranma asked her fiancée.

"It seems that Nabiki also offered your cursed form as collateral."

"She. Did. What?"

"Nabiki Tendo, under the assumed identity of her elder sister, Kasumi, offered you as collateral for this loan. And as it was defaulted on, and your name is on the legally binding document you are responsible. If you don't have the money, then you'll have to pay some other way," Fujiko smirked.

"But that's cheating! Don't you have any morals!" Ranma demanded.

"We are gangsters – our notions of honour are different to yours," the refined lady explained. "But I might be convinced to work out a different deal with yourselves. Who are your fathers?"

"Soun Tendo."

"Genma Saotome."

"Genma Saotome?" Fujiko repeated. "Now I know why your name is familiar. Your father married my kouhai and mah-jong partner, Nodoka Hinata. She wanted you to be a man among men. Looks like she's out of luck."

"What do you mean, 'out of luck'?" asked Kasumi with a slight frown.

"Apparently if Ranma here isn't a 'man among men', he and his father will commit seppuku. I wouldn't call a sex change 'manly', would you?"

The visitors looked at their feet, realising that their host had a valid point.

"However, since I know for a fact that Nodoka lonely enough to overlook such a problem with bit of evidence that you are sufficiently manly in other ways, I'll help you out," Fujiko grinned.

"What did you have in mind?" Kasumi asked for her still stunned fiancé.

"Well, how about I provide her with videotaped evidence that her son, despite his curse, is a man? I think that Ranma defending your honour in a legitimate challenge and you thanking him in a rather intimate way would work, don't you?" the yakuza boss asked.

"What about the debt?" Ranma asked, not wanting there to be further trouble.

"Well, that would be cleared as ownership of the marker would pass to Ranma. On the assumption he won, as well as what you're offering me as an incentive to open this deal up for negotiation, that is."

"So that would mean that Ranma-kun would own me and his cursed form if he manages to defeat your my champion?"

"Yes. Of course, my champion will be armed and Ranma will have to use his bare hands," Ohmura clarified as she signalled for a video camera.

"So my mom's alive?" Ranma asked, a few steps behind everyone else in the room.

"Yes, Ranma-kun," Kasumi sighed. "And it seems that if you're manly enough to defeat an armed man, she'll overlook your curse and you won't have to commit seppuku"

"Seppuku? What did Pops get me into this time?" the redhead growled angrily.

"That's a discussion for another time," Fujiko interrupted. "Now, are you going to go for this new deal or not?"

Ranma looked at her fiancée, who nodded. "Yeah, let's get this over with."

"I did say that I wanted some sort of incentive to agree to this deal. What do you have to offer me?" the gangster asked.

"I don't understand," said the cursed martial artist.

"Well, as it stands, I won't profit from opening this deal up for renegotiation. However, in order to make it worth my while, you should offer me something so that in the event of you losing, I'll be better off."

"I see," Kasumi nodded. "Well, what about my sister, Nabiki?"

"Kasumi?" Ranma asked her fiancée.

"We'll see how she likes being treated like a possession for a change. I'm not happy about her using my name for this deal," the brunette explained. "She's gone too far this time."

"Ok, then it's settled, if Ranma can beat my champion, then he'll come into ownership of Kasumi and Nabiki Tendo and the redheaded girl. If not, then the three of you are mine to do with as I please. If you'll step this way," Fujiko gestured to the room on her right as she stood up.

* * *

Five minutes later, and Ranma was standing triumphantly over his challenger. Kasumi rushed over to his side and kissed him in a fashion that would have made Shampoo jealous.

When the affianced pair broke for air, the martial artist asked the brunette what had come over her.

"I couldn't help it, Ranma-kun, you were just so manly!" Kasumi cooed in a surprisingly convincing fashion. "Perhaps I could show you how grateful I am later?"

Ranma gulped nervously as the curvaceous brunette traced patterns on his chest. "Well, we'll see what I can do."

"Thank you for saving me and my sister, Ranma-kun," the Tendo homemaker said honestly.

"Speaking of which, Mr. Saotome, here's the documents for your new property. Try not to do anything foolish with it," Fujiko said as she appeared on camera. "Now, I'll let your mother know as soon as I can where she can find you. Now go, prove that you're a man among men with you attractive fiancée."

"I will," Ranma nodded before carrying his prizes out the door.

* * *

Outside the Tendo compound, Ranma set Kasumi on the ground. "You ok, Kasumi?"

"Yes, Ranma-kun, though I can't say that I'm happy about asking you to risk your life for me like that," the brunette said sadly.

"Meh, all in a day's work for a man among men, you know," the pigtailed Saotome said in a comically arrogant tone. "So then, how were you going to thank me for being so manly?"

Kasumi giggled at the martial artist's attempt at a suave tone. Before she could answer, the gate opened and Nabiki appeared.

"So, what have you been up to, Saotome?"

"Only saving your bacon, Nabiki," the blue-eyed youth answered. "Next time, check the small print."

"What? That can't be right," the short haired girl insisted as she looked over the contract Ranma handed to her. "Oh shit!"

"'Oh shit' indeed, Nabiki," Kasumi scolded. "Thanks to your behaviour, we now belong to Ranma-kun."

"What?" the mercenary girl demanded. "What are you talking about?"

"I had to beat a thug up so you wouldn't be forced to do anything too unpleasant," Ranma explained unhappily. He folded his arms across his chest. "Anything to say for yourself before we tell your old man?"

"You do that, and I'll make you regret it, Saotome," Nabiki replied, hoping that her favourite mark wouldn't see through her bluff.

"Well, I don't think that it's proper for you to make demands, Nabiki," the Tendo homemaker commented as she placed a hand on her fiancé's shoulder. "After all, if it wasn't for him, we'd all be forced to do all sorts of things."

"I didn't do this to get you into trouble, Kasumi; I did this to get some cash for an investment that will pay off in five years time. But, you had to antagonise Akane and I had to spend the money I would have used to repay the loan on repairs for the house," Nabiki replied, angrily jabbing a finger at the pigtailed martial artist.

"No-one forced you to use Kasumi's name," Ranma countered, making the short haired Tendo flinch slightly.

"And what do you mean 'we', Kasumi?" he asked 'innocently'.

"Well, I think that this agreement includes your cursed form, Ranma-kun," Kasumi answered as she handed the middle Tendo daughter a copy of the agreement.

"That reminds me, since when do you say where I go and what I do?" the martial artist demanded. "This is exactly why I was going to leave last night. Perhaps I should've? That would've fixed your wagon good and proper!"

"I can't say that I was looking forward to being forced into prostitution," the Tendo homemaker said pointedly as she folded her arms across her chest. "You need to be punished; Father will know what to do."

"No!" Nabiki panicked. "Don't tell Dad!"

"Why not?" Ranma asked as he started to enter the compound.

"Yes, he should know if his daughters are misbehaving," Kasumi teased.

"Please, Daddy doesn't need to know," the mercenary girl insisted. "Surely we could come to some sort or arrangement?"

"I'll think about it," the pigtailed martial artist shrugged. "I'm going for a bath."

As the Saotome heir left to see to his personal hygiene, Kasumi turned to her sister. "Anything else to say for yourself? I wonder what the students at Furinkan would say if they found out about this little incident…"

"You wouldn't!"

"I'm just as embarrassed as you are by this whole incident," the Tendo housekeeper replied. "I don't want this getting out, so I'll keep this quiet. However, I can't speak for Ranma. You know that he overheard you last night and that was why he was ready to leave there and then."

"Shit, I'm sorry, Kasumi, I never meant for this to go this far."

"I know, Nabiki," the older brunette smiled reassuringly. "Unexpected things tend to happen when Ranma's around. But you need to convince him that this whole incident should be forgotten if not forgiven. I'll leave how you do that up to you."

* * *

As Ranma relaxed in the hot water of the Tendo furo, his father entered the washing area.

"Where did you go to earlier, boy?" the balding man demanded.

"I was out with Kasumi," Ranma answered opening an eye. "Who's Nodoka Saotome, she used to be Nodoka Hinata?"

The heavy-set man froze. "Where did you hear that name?"

"I heard it when I was out earlier. What's this about us committing seppuku if I'm not a 'man among men'?" the pigtailed martial artist asked.

Genma decided that now was a good time to rinse off and turned into a panda.

"Nice try, Pops," Ranma said as he grabbed a bucket and poured hot water onto his ursine father. "Now, what did you get me into this time?"

The older Saotome sighed before getting into the hot water. "I suppose that you should know now. In order to train you to a proper standard, I needed to get you away from your mother. She would have coddled you and made you weak."

The pigtailed youth said nothing as he continued to soak.

"Well, your mother insisted that if I failed to raise you to be a man among men, we'd commit seppuku," Genma continued his story. "So you see, I was in fact protecting you from a dangerous woman, who knows what sort of things she would have done to you."

"Fair enough," Ranma shrugged. "I'm done here. I'm going to see if Kasumi wants to do anything."

"It seems you like spending time with Kasumi," the partially sighted Saotome noted. "I approve of your choice of fiancée."

"That's only because she can cook better than the other Tendos," the rebellious son shot back as he dried himself off.

* * *

Ranma walked up to his fiancée. "Kasumi, you wanna go do something today?"

"What did you have in mind, Ranma-kun?" the young woman asked. "I have a few chores to deal with today."

"Like what? Maybe if I help, then we can do something a bit more fun?"

Kasumi looked into her fiancé's eyes and saw a look of honesty. "Well, I need to wash the windows, perhaps if you took care of the upper windows we could be done in time to go for a walk this afternoon?"

"Of course," the Saotome heir smiled. "Now, what can I do to help with lunch?"

The brunette blinked. "You're really getting into this helping me around the house, aren't you, Ranma-kun?"

"Well, you know, I get the feeling that you don't get to spend much time having fun," Ranma admitted with a light blush.

"That's very thoughtful of you, Ranma-kun," Soun noted as he approached the pair of teenagers. "In fact, I think that we'll take care of the chores this afternoon while you take Kasumi on a date."

"That's very kind of you, Father," Kasumi smiled warmly.

"Well, I thought that perhaps if we allowed you to take your own pace, the engagement would run a little smoother," the master of the Tendo School admitted. "Now, where were you planning on taking Kasumi?"

"I dunno," the pigtailed martial artist replied, scratching his head. "You wanna go anywhere, Kasumi?"

The Tendo chef thought for a moment. 'I can't actually think of anything. That's depressing.'

Ranma caught the small sigh his fiancée made. "You wanna go for a walk in the park?"

"Yes," Kasumi nodded. 'It'll give me a chance to talk with Ranma-kun about what to do with Nabiki.'

* * *

The latest permutation of the candidates to fulfil the pledge to unite the Tendo and Saotome Schools of Anything Goes walked away from a vending machine towards a park bench.

"Ranma-kun," Kasumi started after taking a look around for anybody that was a potential eavesdropper, "what are you going to do about Nabiki?"

Ranma took a sip of his drink. "I hadn't really thought about it. I mean, what's the point? She'll only get me back even worse if I do anything."

The brunette frowned. "But Ranma-kun, that's why she gets away with her behaviour all the time – no-one's punished her since mother died."

The blue-eyed martial artist paused. "But what can I do? It's not like I can out-think her."

Kasumi sipped her own drink, peach tea, as she thought about how her fiancé could best punish her sister. When her mind drifted to when Ranma stood up to protect her, the normally serene girl was able to admit, at least to herself, why she didn't find it too hard to pretend to be turned on by the handsome martial artist.

"Perhaps you should claim her as your property."

"And then do what?" Ranma asked. "It's not like she can cook like you can."

The firstborn Tendo rolled her eyes when her cursed fiancé revealed just how limited his imagination was.

"You got any ideas, Kasumi?" the young Saotome asked, catching the gesture.

It was Kasumi's turn to pause. 'What do I tell Ranma-kun?'

"Ranchan!" a female voice called out.

"What? Oh, hi Ucchan," the pigtailed youth waved.

"What's up, Ranchan?" Ukyo asked as she approached the pair. "What happened to Nabiki, aren't you engaged to her?"

"Not any more, Ucchan," Kasumi answered. "She was taking advantage of her engagement to Ranma-kun."

'Well, duh – that's what she does,' the chef replied mentally. "I see."

"Yeah, so now I'm engaged to Kasumi for a week. If it works out, then we'll keep it going," Ranma answered with his usual tact, which caused Kasumi to rub her forehead in frustration.

"You really shouldn't have told her that, Ranma-kun," the homemaker muttered under her breath. Standing up, she smiled politely as she excused her fiancé and herself.

"Time to go already? Catch you at school, Ucchan," the pigtailed martial artist smiled.

"Yeah, ok, Ranchan," the okonomiyaki specialist agreed absently. Her mind was working out what she needed to do about this latest development. 'It's not like Kasumi's a combatant, the girl barely gets out of the house as it was, there's no way I can challenge her like I could Akane or Shampoo…'

* * *

At the Tendo home, Nabiki slipped into the laundry room while her father spoke on the phone with his colleagues on the local council.

'This'll teach Ranma a lesson. Nobody talks to Nabiki Tendo like that!' the short haired brunette thought maliciously as she poured household bleach on the silk shirts. 'Hmmm, better do something to point the blame at some…. I've got it!'

The self-styled Ice Queen pulled out a knife that her sister used to open the sacks of rice and began to slash at the young Saotome's male underwear.

* * *

On the way back to the Tendo home, Kasumi wore a small frown on her face.

"What's up, Kasumi?" Ranma asked.

"You shouldn't have told Ucchan about the engagement being switched to me. Now she'll tell others and there'll be all sorts of trouble," the brunette explained.

"Oh, so I can't talk to my best friend?" the young Saotome demanded angrily.

"That's not what I meant, Ranma-kun," Kasumi sighed. Then it occurred to her why everyone was taking advantage of her fiancé. "She tried to kill you, yes?"

"Yeah, but you know what my old man did to her," the blue-eyed Jusenkyo victim answered.

"And you consider Ryoga and Mousse to be your friends don't you?"

"And?" Ranma asked, stopping in his tracks.

"You're too soft-hearted, Ranma-kun," Kasumi explained. "They all think that they can get something out of you, so they play on their so-called friendship with you. They're playing you for a sap, just like Nabiki did."

"And what can I do about it?" the pigtailed martial artist asked in exasperation. "It's not like I've got lots of friends to replace 'em with."

"I know," the brunette agreed. "But if they all saw Nabiki treating you with respect, then I'm sure that they would treat you better."

"And how do I get here to do that?" Ranma asked, intrigued by this latest development.

"Claim her as your property, Ranma-kun. Make her do something unpleasant and humiliating."

"Like what?" asked the young Saotome. "And how will that make her respect me? Won't that make her plot revenge if I trick her into eating Akane's cooking?"

Kasumi's cheeks coloured as she thought about her own choices for punishing the mercenary girl. "That's not quite what I had in mind, Ranma-kun. I'll explain later."

"Oh, ok," Ranma nodded. As they approached the Tendo home, it just occurred to the Saotome heir to ask the brunette beside him why she agreed to the engagement.

"Well," Kasumi started to answer, her cheeks still coloured. "No, it's silly."

"I want to know, Kasumi. Why did you agree to switch the engagement to you? You said that family honour is important to you, but it wasn't that important that you didn't try to get out of being my fiancée by forcing Akane!" the pigtailed martial artist replied with a glare.

The firstborn Tendo winced. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise to keep it a secret."

"Ok."

"Well, I had a dream that we went out on a date, and while it wasn't something out of a romance novel," Kasumi explained, "you were a perfect gentleman."

"That's it?" Ranma asked. "Doesn't seem like a good reason to me."

"Well, there was something else in the dream," the brunette answered in an embarrassed tone. "There was a fiancé that Father had arranged years ago but he forgot about that, a bit like your father. And I didn't want to take any chances, what with the Chardins and all."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," the blue-eyed youth commented sadly.

The affianced pair walked the rest of the way home in a comfortable silence.

"Ah, there you are, Kasumi!" Soun said as he opened the front door to the affianced pair of teenagers.

"What's up, Father?" the brunette enquired, a nasty feeling tugging at the back of her mind.

"There's been a slight accident with the Ranma-kun's laundry," the moustachioed man admitted. "I think it's best if I showed you."

* * *

To be continued…

This was pre-read by Chi Vayne, as per the norm. It was almost another fic. What made me change my mind? I couldn't think of a decent title :P

You'll all get over it, I have.

Are they're any questions?

I'll try to address them in the coming chapter(s), but I make no promises.


	3. Chapter 3

Final Straws

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: Ownership of a house is a never-ending cycle of expense and maintenance.

* * *

Chapter 3

* * *

The Tendo homemaker looked at the ruined Chinese-style silk shirts that sat on the top of the pile of Ranma's damaged laundry. Looking through the clothes, one could easily see that they had been deliberately spoilt.

The extent of the sabotage was such that the cursed martial artist had no more unisex clothes. The fact that in included underwear, led the pigtailed youth to suspect Happosai had been up to his old tricks.

It was only Kasumi's calming hand on his shoulder that prevented Ranma from running off to tear the diminutive pervert several new orifices.

"What happened, Father?"

"Well, it was me that put Ranma-kun's clothes in the washing machine, but I was called away to the phone before I could finish up. When I returned the machine was already running," Soun answered with an apologetic shrug.

The phone rang and the Tendo patriarch announced that he was expecting a follow up call.

When they were alone, Kasumi turned to Ranma. "I don't think this was Grandfather Happosai, Ranma-kun."

"Yeah, it's too sneaky for him. But who'd do something like this to me?" Ranma asked as he scratched his head.

'Akane wouldn't do anything like this, she's not that sort of girl,' the brunette mused silently. 'Uncle Saotome wouldn't have anything to gain from this, so that would leave Nabiki. Is she trying to get back at Ranma-kun because she thinks I've been turned against her?'

"You reckon Nabiki did this?" the pigtailed Saotome asked in a serious tone, rousing his fiancée from her thoughts. "She's the only one I can think of that'd do this."

"Yes," Kasumi nodded. "She probably thinks that she can get away with doing this sort of thing to you because you never retaliate."

"That's the last straw! Ya gotta help me get back at her, Kasumi!" Ranma insisted. He knelt before his fiancé. "You said you had some idea on how to punish her, didn't you?"

"I-I did," the domesticated Tendo replied with a blush. "But I'm not sure that it's such a good idea anymore."

"Damn, but we gotta do something. I dunno what though," the Saotome heir sighed. "Maybe I should tell your dad after all."

"I'd rather that this was kept secret, Ranma-kun. Please don't tell anyone what she did," Kasumi asked with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Yeah, ok, I'll keep it quiet," Ranma sighed. "But only 'cos you asked me to."

"Thank you Ranma-kun," the Tendo homemaker smiled brightly. "Was there anything special you wanted for dinner?"

"Not fussed," the martial artist replied absently. "Damn, I need some new clothes and it's too late to go shopping today."

"Well, I could wash the clothes you're wearing now while you're in the bath so you've got something to wear tomorrow," Kasumi offered. "I know how much a gi can itch. I'd imagine that it would be especially bad if you've not got anything to wear underneath it."

"Thanks Kasumi."

* * *

Ranma lay back in the bath, trying to allow his tension slip away. It wasn't easy as he now had only a single change of clothes and he needed to let Nabiki know that she wasn't going to get away with her antics anymore.

"Ranma-kun?" Kasumi asked through the door.

"Yeah?" the pigtailed martial artist asked, his eyes opening slowly.

"I'm sorry, but you'll need to wear some girl's clothes while we wait for yours to dry."

"Ok, you left the clothes out there for me?" Ranma asked, preparing to get out of the bath.

"They're right here, Ranma-kun," Kasumi replied.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, a dress wearing Ranma-chan entered the kitchen looking for her fiancée.

"You had any ideas about that thing we were talkin' about?" she asked the brunette.

"I do have one, but I need to talk to you about that later, Ranma-kun," Kasumi replied with a blush.

"Yeah, ok," the buxom redhead sighed at what he thought was a bit of a let down. 'Still, it's not like being engaged to Kasumi is bad or anythin' like it was with Nabiki.'

Kasumi didn't want to discipline her sister, but it seemed that if she didn't take action soon, the mercenary girl would bite off more than she could chew. While the Tendo homemaker was well aware of hubris's habit of biting people on the backside, she didn't want her family to lose face, freedom or fingers.

Speaking of hubris, the Tendo heir walked in a cast a glare at the transgendered martial artist. "What are you dressed as girl for?"

"My clothes are ruined," Ranma replied bitterly.

"Oh, well, don't think that you can flash Kasumi. I know how much you like to flaunt your body," the short-tempered Tendo replied snidely.

The redhead growled.

"Ranma-kun, could you help me with dinner?" Kasumi asked. 'I wish that they wouldn't argue so much.'

"Yeah, sure, Kasumi."

* * *

The evening meal was eaten in a subdued atmosphere with only the parents making small talk.

"Right, thanks for the food, I'm off to the dojo to practice," Ranma declared standing up.

"Jerk," Akane muttered as she finished her meal at a more sedate pace.

The pigtailed martial artist cast a dirty look at her former fiancée before heading off to practice.

"I'll have a word with Ranma-kun to see what's bothering him," Kasumi offered with a polite smile.

"Thank you, Kasumi," Soun smiled back.

* * *

In the dojo, Ranma was angrily working on kata. He was still upset with Nabiki and Akane's attitude wasn't exactly helping matters.

"Stupid tomboy," she muttered as she jumped from the rafters.

"Ranma-kun, can I talk with you?" a soft, pleasant voice asked from the doorway.

The redhead landed a metre from the door way. "I suppose so."

"Please don't be like that, Ranma-kun," Kasumi sighed. "I wanted to talk with you about what we should do with Nabiki."

"You know what, I don't think I want to be here anymore."

This turn of events was unexpected. Yes, the Tendo chef knew that Ranma wasn't happy with things as they stood, but she thought that she was helping him with his situation.

"What is it, Ranma-kun? Has someone done something else to you?"

"You mean other than treat me like I'm shit they stepped in?" the surly youth asked, folding her arms across her bountiful chest. "To be honest, your sisters are still treating me like I'm scum and it's pissing me off."

"I'm sorry, Ranma-kun," the brunette said as she looked to the floor. "What are you going to do?"

Ranma started to pace. "I'm thinking of leaving. Give me a good reason why I should stay and take this kind of abuse?"

"But you promised to give the engagement one last chance…"

The redhead's laugh was loud and humourless. "Promises mean shit in Nerima, everybody knows that."

"But you always tried to do the right thing," Kasumi replied, hoping that Ranma hadn't snapped.

"Yeah, I tried. Not going to bother anymore, though."

Nabiki was listening in and decided that this was a disturbing twist to the Nerima situation. If Ranma decided to up and leave, then things would get worse before they got better and everyone would blame the Tendos for that.

"Why not, Ranma-kun?" the Tendo homemaker asked, her hands starting to fiddle nervously with the front of her apron.

"Because I don't want to. I've had enough of 'do this, do that, train harder or you don't eat'. And to be honest, I'm tired of it."

Kasumi nodded. A solution occurred to her. "P-perhaps we could do something else?"

Ranma looked at the blushing young woman standing before her. "Like what? I don't want Akane or Nabiki bursting in an' callin' me a pervert for doing nothin'."

'He really doesn't get it, does he? Why didn't he consider, that with me? He would have if he was a pervert…' The brunette pondered the situation further.

* * *

Outside the dojo, Nabiki frowned as she realised that Kasumi was willing to do all sorts of things to keep her fiancé here.

'I better do something to put him in his place, maybe I should call Kuno…'

Deciding that the Blue Thunder of Furinkan was the most reliable tool for humiliating Ranma, the mercenary Tendo left to alert him about a fictitious injustice that Ranma was planning on unleashing upon her family.

* * *

Kasumi continued to fiddle with her apron as she tried to think up something that she could do to help keep Ranma in Nerima.

The pigtailed girl shrugged, unimpressed with the lack of ideas from her newest fiancée. "Well, if you come up with something before tomorrow morning, let me know, ok?"

"…"

"What? I'm leaving in the morning unless you can come up with a reason for me to stay," Ranma stated. "I don't care about any of you enough to stay to try and work this out. Hell, I don't think I can be bothered for revenge. As far as I'm concerned, we're complete strangers."

"B-b-but what about me?" Kasumi asked tearfully.

"Meh," the redhead shrugged.

Not knowing what else she could do, Kasumi grabbed the cursed martial artist and kissed her on the lips.

"There, does that give you a reason to stay?"

"I s'ppose so," Ranma replied, unsuccessfully trying to appear unfazed by the brunette's surprise move.

"Good," Kasumi smiled before leaving the dojo.

* * *

A short while later, Kuno arrived with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a bokken in the other: the flowers for his loves and the wooden sword to smite his foe.

"Nabiki Tendo, where is the foul sorcerer?" the kendoist demanded. "I have to save your sisters and you from his unspeakable lusts!"

The brunette allowed herself a small smirk before pointing to the dojo. "He's that way, Kuno-chan."

"Many thanks!" Tatewaki smiled before running around the Tendo house to where his nemesis was lying in wait.

* * *

Tatewaki Kuno, a legend in his own lunchtime, was rushing to defeat the troublesome Ranma Saotome and vanquish him to free the fair maidens of Nerima.

And as such, he was surprised to see his pigtailed goddess standing by the pond and looking into the murky depths, searching for some sort of answer to an unspoken problem.

"My darling warrior maiden!" the tall youth called out as he opened his arms to embrace the busty girl. "I am so glad to see that you are unharmed! Though, it saddens me to see you in such poor spirits. What has that vulgar brute done to you this time?"

"Nothing. And if you want to continue to enjoy solid food, I suggest that you leave now while you still can use your legs," the redhead growled.

"Nonsense! Now that I am here, I can protect you from Saotome's wanton attentions!" Kuno insisted. "I insist that we leave here so that we may distance ourselves from-"

The kendoist was cut off by a punch to the throat. "Kuno, this is your last chance: leave while you can."

"I see that you still live in fear of reprisals," Kuno gasped. "I was told that Saotome was here, but I don't see him."

"Who told you that?" Ranma asked, her fist clenched.

"Who else but Nabiki Tendo?"

"I see. Well, since it's a long way back to your house, I'll help you," the busty girl smiled evilly as she picked up the still wheezing kendoist by the collar and punted him out of the Tendo grounds.

Turning towards the house, Ranma noticed that Nabiki had decided that she needed to rush to the kitchen.

"That's it. I'm leaving."

Striding to the guest room, the cursed martial artist started a mental list of her things and decided what really mattered to her: her bedroll, her boots and maybe some of her clothes.

* * *

Kasumi noted that her sister had rushed into the kitchen and started to root through the fridge.

"Is something the matter, Nabiki?"

"Nope, nothing's wrong," the mercenary girl lied, thankful that her face was not viewable.

Before the homemaker could ask what Nabiki wanted, she saw a rather irate Ranma walk up the stairs with a look that said "I'm leaving and I dare you to stop me."

"Oh my, what happened to Ranma-kun now?"

"I have no idea, Nee-chan," Nabiki lied. "Ooh, chocolate mousse!"

The callous nature of her sister hurt Kasumi. It hurt her more than the time she had to defend Akane's violence to Ranma.

It was enough to make the normally serene and calm Tendo lash out.

Luckily for Nabiki, Ranma's footsteps on the stairs gave her a reprieve.

"Right then, I'm off. I hope to never see you again," the redhead said dismissively.

"Meh, you'll be back," the younger brunette shrugged.

"Ranma-kun, please, tell me what's wrong," Kasumi pleaded.

"Why? So you can mock me with your sister?" Ranma asked with a snort. "I ain't here for your amusement."

"I never considered you as something to amuse me!" the homemaker protested.

"Fuckin'….no!" the surly martial artist pointed angrily. "You're just a pair of lyin' bitches. I ain't ever believin' anything you have to say."

"Ranma-kun!"

"Eat shit and die," Ranma glared before continuing to the front door.

"Ranma, if you leave now, don't ever expect to be welcome here again," Soun growled, arriving in time to hear the abuse directed at his precious daughters.

"Like I was ever welcome here," the redhead snorted before she left for what she hoped would be the last time.

Kasumi stepped up to the door. "But you said that you'd give the engagement…"

"I could stay here, but I'd be treated like shit and I've had enough of that. See you in Hell!" Ranma declared before she left the Tendo home for good.

"But we b-b-belong to you," the weeping brunette whispered. "R-remember the contract."

"What contract?" Soun demanded.

"Oh that contract," the still angry redhead said, snapping her fingers. "The one where Nabiki sold Kasumi and my cursed form to the yakuza. Didn't you know about your daughter's dealings with criminals? Some father you are."

"Hey," the moustachioed man protested.

"Oh, wake up, Brokeback Fountain!" Ranma pointed furiously. "You had no idea that Akane was being hassled every mornin' or that Nabiki was dealin' with thugs. Hell, today was the first time I saw you help out with the chores! Speaking of which, what happened to my clothes?"

All eyes turned to Soun and then to the other likely culprit – Nabiki.

"What? You need to learn what your limits are, Ranma," the mercenary girl replied with a reasonable facsimile of righteousness.

"Yeah, you're right," the cursed teenager nodded. "I mean, it's not like I can sell you off to the highest bidder."

"Oh but you can, Ranma-kun," Kasumi interrupted. "As her legal owner, you can do what you want with her. And me for that matter."

"You're right, Kasumi," Ranma smiled for the first time during the conversation. "Hey, you know what, Hiroshi and Daisuke were wondering what she were like as a fiancée. Perhaps I could rent her out to them. Of course, what they can do with her depends how much they pay me."

"You dare pimp out my daughter?!?" Soun growled his Demon-Head technique emerging.

The redhead folded her arms across her ample chest as she leaned against the wall. "Why not? She did it to me. And you did it with the Chardins. Speaking of which, I didn't get so much as a 'thank you' for saving one of you from having to marry that freak. So don't you try taking the moral high ground with me!"

"Ranma-kun has a point," Kasumi chimed in. "Since Nabiki and I are his legal property, we have to do as Ranma-kun demands."

"No! You are not his slaves!" Mr. Tendo insisted. He grabbed Ranma by the shoulders. "I challenge you for my daughters!"

"What's in it for me?" Ranma asked, her blue eyes casting her host an upsetting glare.

"What?"

"What's in it for me?" Ranma repeated. "Why should I accept your challenge? I don't have to do shit for you. Hell, since I'm going, I might as well take all my things with me. Kasumi, Nabiki, we're going."

"I'm not going anywhere, Saotome," Nabiki replied defiantly. "And neither is Kasumi."

"Fine. Mr. Tendo, if you can beat me in a challenge, I'll relinquish ownership of your daughters. If I win, I get your house and dojo. You, Pops and Akane will have to find some other place to live," the redhead smirked.

"The Dojo, now!" Soun growled.

"Daddy, what are you doing?" the middle daughter asked, suddenly getting a bad feeling about this situation.

"Defending the honour of the Tendo school of Anything Goes, Nabiki-chan," the Tendo master replied condescendingly. "It's time I showed him why age and experience will always beat youth and vigour."

There was a loud laugh from Ranma. "I heard about how Pops beat your ass all the time during your training. Besides, when was the last time you fought someone?"

"…"

"Yeah. 'Each day's worth of training missed takes three to catch up'. Pops drilled that lesson into me when I was six," the cursed martial artist smirked. "I've had enough of this bullshit. Kasumi, Bitch, we're leaving."

"Don't call Kasumi a bitch!" Nabiki growled.

"I didn't," Ranma deadpanned as she walked over to where the mercenary girl was standing and clapped a hand on her shoulder. "You're my bitch, now, Nabiki."

"I am not your bitch, Saotome. Not now and not ever," the cold hearted Tendo glared.

"Famous last words. Especially when it gets out that you sold my cursed form and your sister to the FUCKING YAKUZA!"

Nabiki flinched at the venom in Ranma's voice.

"I'm sorry for my sister's behaviour, Ranma-kun," Kasumi apologised.

"Meh, Nabiki is responsible for her own actions," the transgendered Saotome cut off any plea for leniency on her part. "And as such, it's up to her to take her own punishment."

"You will not be punishing ANY of my daughters," Soun growled.

"Fuck you, I'll do what I want. You can't stop me," Ranma smirked. "It won't take much for the Tendo name to be worth as much as a panda's promise. Now calm down before you fall down."

Soun lashed out and found his fist firmly in the redhead's grasp.

"Careful now, you wouldn't want this to be considered the duel for your house."

"And why not?" the moustachioed man asked, trying to stare down the teenager.

"Because if it is, I can just do this and win," Ranma explained with a straight face as he lashed out with a lightning quick knife-edge strike to the older man's Adam's apple.

Soun dodged the strike but missed the follow up combination of an elbow to the nose and a knee to the solar plexus.

While the long haired man struggled for breath, the pigtailed youth grabbed him in a headlock and rammed the top of his skull into the wall, rendering Soun unconscious after the third impact.

"Well, I think that we can wait for him to wake up before throw him out," Ranma said. "But in the mean time, I want something to eat."

When the sisters failed to move, the pigtailed girl clapped her hands together. "Chop, chop, girls. I get grouchy when I'm hungry."

* * *

After Ranma finished his food, he turned to Kasumi. "Where's Nabiki gone now?"

"She's in her room," the brunette replied. "I don't know what she's doing though."

"Well, that's not important right now," the redhead smiled. "So then, what's brought this change of heart? I thought that family was the most important thing to you. So why are you on my side now?"

Kasumi's cheeks coloured as she fiddled with her apron as she tried to word her response. "I-it's because I, I like manly men…"

"I'm currently a girl and have been for most of today, Kasumi."

The brunette's blush deepened as she found it increasingly difficult to give her answer.

"I'm waiting for an answer, Kasumi-chan," Ranma teased.

"I've been having naughty dreams about strong, manly men. And since I know that you're both, but you're also a decent person, I've been sort of hoping that, maybe you could, if it's not too much trouble, you know…"

The cursed martial artist looked on in confusion. "I don't know what you mean, Kasumi."

"I mean, could you possibly… you know… with me. Since you're technically still my fiancé it wouldn't be that improper…" Kasumi replied, her apron now completely wrinkled.

Ranma finally realised what it was that the Tendo homemaker wanted. "Oh, I see. Well, perhaps we could do something later tonight? Once we've decided what we're going to do."

"I'll be looking forward to it, Ranma-kun."

* * *

Akane announced her return from Yuka's.

"Hey, what's going on here? Whose luggage is this?" she asked as she entered the lounge where her eldest sister and former fiancé were sitting.

"Hi Akane, got some good news and bad," Ranma smiled innocently.

The Tendo heir didn't like the sound of that. "And that is?"

"Well, the good news is we won't be living under the same roof any more. You're moving out," the pigtailed youth said with a straight face.

"Don't be stupid, Ranma! Why would I leave my house?" Akane demanded. "And where would I go?"

"First up, your dad lost your house and dojo in a challenge to me," Ranma explained. "And secondly, I just don't care."

"BAKA! How could you think that you own this house?" the enraged girl shouted as she strode over to where her former fiancé was sitting.

"Kasumi, would you care to inform your sister about the changes?"

The homemaker sighed. "Yes, Ranma-kun. Akane, there was a slight miscalculation on Nabiki's behalf when she made a less than above board deal. And as a result, she and I are now the property of Ranma-kun."

Akane blinked. "And how does that mean that Ranma owns the house?"

"Well, Father challenged Ranma-kun for our freedom and lost," Kasumi said sadly.

"That makes no sense!" recently returned Tendo shot back. "How can Ranma own you? Slavery's been outlawed for years!"

"Yeah, well, when you deal with the yakuza, all bets are off. Isn't that right, Kasumi-chan?"

"Yes, Ranma-kun."

"But it's not all doom and gloom. I suppose that your dad'll be waking up soon," Ranma gestured to Kasumi to splash Soun with cold water.

"Gah!" the moustachioed man complained. "What's going on here?"

"You lost your challenge and now you need to leave my house," the cursed martial artist answered. "Look, Akane's here to help you take your shit out my house."

"This isn't your house!" Soun protested.

"So you didn't challenge me to a duel for Nabiki and Kasumi's freedom?"

"No! Not yet, anyway," the still groggy man admitted. "What happened to me?"

"You swung at me and I showed you what happens when you slack on your training," Ranma smirked. "So, you ready to fight me now?"

"Err, not quite yet, Ranma, I need to warm up first," Soun replied.

"How long will you need? I mean, I'd like to have this sorted before it gets too late. No sense in adding insult to injury by kicking you out after midnight, after all."

"You seem rather confident, Ranma," Akane huffed. "I'll take you on and win!"

"Ok. Let's see how long this takes, shall we?" Ranma asked as she stood up from the table. "Anything Goes, first one unconscious, no death blows?"

"Err, don't you think we should have some sort of handicap system?" Soun asked, hoping to keep his youngest daughter in one piece for just that little bit longer.

"No. You're already being subbed out, so why should I do you any other favours?" the redhead asked. "I'm already doing this as a girl."

"Grr, take me seriously, Ranma!"

"Ok, Akane, I'll take this duel seriously. If anyone interrupts, I'll tear out their spine. Or what's left of it," Ranma snorted in Soun's direction. "So then, if you win, I'll leave and Kasumi and Nabiki will be free. When I win, I get the house and dojo and you have to leave. No room for Tendos in this house."

"What about my sisters?" the Tendo heir demanded.

"They'll be lucky if they keep the names 'Kasumi' and 'Nabiki'," said the unsettlingly calm teenager. "Of course, you could stay, but then you'd be in the same boat as them…"

"I won't let you do what you want to them!" Akane growled.

Ranma laughed loudly, slapping her thigh when she heard her former fiancée's words. Soon the laughter changed from amusement to something a lot more sinister.

"I can run faster, kick harder, jump higher and use my chi to blast you from a distance. What can you do?"

"…"

"Akane, please, don't do anything rash," Kasumi begged. "There are things that you don't know about. It's for the best if you leave and try to live your own life."

"But what if he wants to…you know with you?"

"It's my right as their owner," the pigtailed girl smirked. "Oh, didn't you know that Nabiki sold Kasumi and my girl-side off to the yakuza?"

Ranma continued her piece after Akane looked at Kasumi, who nodded sadly, and back at her. "I suppose that it was only a matter of time, but hey, it was still quite a shock. I mean, even Pops hasn't sold my girl-side off yet. I mean, sure, he's thought about it, but he never actually sold these tits to the highest bidder."

The Tendo heir's eye twitched as the redhead hefted her cleavage. "Pervert," she muttered angrily.

"So what if I am? At least I didn't sell my family off to someone who had something I wanted," Ranma sneered. "But enough talk, it's time for action! To the dojo!"

* * *

Ranma and Akane faced off in the centre of the dojo.

To the casual observer, pigtailed girl was the calmer of the two, though the shorter haired one seemed to be taking the duel a lot more seriously.

"So then, are you ready? I don't want to hear about anyone bitching about how they weren't ready for this," the redhead spoke in a loud voice that everyone in the dojo could hear clearly.

"I'm ready," Akane growled.

"Ok then," Kasumi spoke up, acting as referee. "First to knock the other unconscious wins. No death blows, no outside interference. Take your places and stances."

"Three. Two. One – Fight!" she shouted.

Akane charged in with her usual grace and finesse.

Ranma saw the haymaker and used it to vault over his opponent. On his way, he unceremoniously knocked the girl to the floor with a kick the back.

"Grr! I'll get you for that, Ranma!" the Tendo heir growled as she pushed herself up off the wooden floor.

"Really now? Well, in that case, perhaps I should stop playing around?" Ranma smirked as she rushed in and put the angry teenager into a choke hold.

Soun and Nabiki looked on, panic etched on their faces as their one chance to end this nightmare started to gasp for air.

Akane wasn't about to give up and started her attempts to shake off the redhead. Still, it wasn't enough and soon the pressure Ranma applied to her carotid artery was causing her to pass out.

Stepping back Ranma smirked at the conscious Tendos. "Well, what now? Ah yes, you were getting out of my house, weren't you?"

"B-b-but you hurt Akane!" Soun protested before flying into a rage fuelled assault and charging the petite girl.

Ranma's smirk never left her face as she sidestepped the charge and booted the moustachioed man into the wall.

"Get out, Tendo-san, and take your daughter with you."

"No! This is my house," Soun roared.

"Actually Father, I took the liberty of getting the deed to the house and dojo," Kasumi explained. "I had to be prepared to uphold the agreement. You are a man of your word, aren't you?"

"W-w-w-w-w-w-what? No! I mean yes," Soun spluttered. "But this is a special case."

"Oh, so you expected Ranma-kun to keep his end of the deal, but you had no intention of upholding yours?" Kasumi asked. "I'm shocked and appalled, Father! How could you behave like that? I can't believe that you'd be such a hypocrite!"

"But this house and dojo have been in our family for generations! How can you expect me to turn this over because of bet made by someone like Ranma?"

"Someone like Ranma?" Ranma asked with an exaggerated thinking pose. "Do you mean someone who has saved your family from all sorts of things from dojo destroyers to freaks who want your daughters for who knows what? Is that what you mean?"

"…"

"Well, I don't actually give a shit what you think of me – who cares what homeless people think?" the pigtailed girl snorted. "You're no longer welcome in my house and if you're not gone in five minutes, I'll throw you out. And you know that I'm strong enough to do that."

"This isn't over, Ranma!" Soun growled. "I'll get my house and my family back!"

"Not if I sell it first," Ranma grinned. "That was Nabiki's plan. Well, the dojo, I mean."

"Though I suppose to that's not all Nabiki intended to sell," Kasumi chimed in innocently.

All eyes in the room turned to the homemaker.

"What? I don't appreciate being offered to gangsters," she huffed.

"She's got a point. Also, you've got four minutes to get out," Ranma shrugged.

"What are you going to do for money?" Nabiki asked. The churning in her stomach was getting worse.

"I haven't decided, I suppose that I could sell your time to the lads at school," the redhead mused.

"Y-y-y-you wouldn't dare!"

"You're right. I might want to keep that fun to myself."

Ranma stretched while she waited for a response. When there wasn't one, she sighed. "You do know that if you really wanted to, you could take Nabiki with you."

"Y-y-you mean it?" Soun asked hesitantly.

"Yes. You can even take Kasumi with you," the pigtailed girl smiled. "Of course, if I did see any of you on my property after today, I'd probably kill you with my bare hands. Three minutes, by the way."

"Wait, you mean you're going to let us all go?" Nabiki asked, knowing that there was a catch.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, but of course then there'll be no-one to stop me doing what I want to my new house and dojo… Oh, if you're going, you might want to leave now, unless you want to be thrown into the street."

* * *

To be continued…?

Well, here is the latest instalment of this one. It was, as ever, pre-read by Chi Vayne and previewed on Hawk's Forum.

Good news and bad: the next chapters have a rather citrus flavour. Of course, they'll have to either be edited to make them suitable for this site or posted elsewhere if I am unable to make that sort of "artistic sacrifice".

Until laterer comes, folks.


	4. Chapter 4

Final Straws

By Lord Raa

* * *

Disclaim-me-do: FOR UNITIИU!

* * *

Chapter 4

* * *

Ranma turned to Kasumi and then to Nabiki.

"If you're going, you've got two minutes to leave. Better grab what you can, because you're not going to be let in here ever again."

"You really mean this?" Nabiki asked suspiciously.

"I do," the pigtailed youth nodded. "But if you don't leave now, then you're gonna be here for some time."

The Tendos turned their attention to Kasumi.

"I…if I go with them, what will happen to the house?" she asked concern on her face.

"I dunno," Ranma shrugged. "One minute left. If you're going, get your shoes on."

"…"

"I-if I stay, what will you do with me, Ranma-kun?" Kasumi asked nervously.

"I dunno," Ranma shrugged yet again. She stretched as she yawned.

This gave Nabiki a flash of inspiration and she gestured to her father and younger sister. 'He's making this up as he goes maybe I can fix this…'

"Oh my, look at the time. Time for those that are leaving to go forever," the cursed teenager smiled. "So then, who's leaving by themselves?"

When no-one moved, Ranma grabbed Soun by the scruff of his neck and strode to the front gate.

"Have a nice life," the redhead said before callously throwing the still bewildered man into the street.

Walking back inside, he grabbed Akane by her arm. "Well, it's your turn, you uncute tomboy."

"Hey! I can walk by myself!" the Akane protested as she was unceremoniously dragged to where her dad was slumped.

"Then go. And never come back, cos you're not welcome here anymore," Ranma sneered, dusting her hands off. She turned to where Nabiki and Kasumi were standing. "So, you joining them or stayin' here? I don't care, but you have to decide now."

"I'm staying," Kasumi said. When Nabiki looked at her, she added. "I have to make sure that Mother's things are taken care off."

"Well, I'm staying too. I need to make sure that Kasumi's alright," Nabiki decided.

"Well, that's sorted then," the redhead smiled honestly. "Now, we need to sort out my new clothes tomorrow, so let's get some sleep, shall we?"

"Yes, Ranma-kun," the homemaker nodded.

"Hey," the younger brunette said, "what about the panda?"

"He's still here?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen him for some time," Kasumi admitted.

Nabiki shrugged. "I haven't seen him for a while, either."

* * *

Elsewhere in Nerima, Genma Saotome was making his way to his wife's house.

"If what I heard was right, then Nodoka might be able to help straighten out the boy," he muttered.

When he reached his former home he coughed before straightening up his dishevelled gi.

Ringing the doorbell, he was soon greeted by the sight of his wife.

"G-genma-kun? Is that you?"

"No-chan," Genma bowed before stepping up to his wife. "There's something that I need to talk to you about."

"Come in, there's something that I've been wanting to talk to you about. I got this video from an old friend of mine," Nodoka said rather icily as Genma removed his shoes. "You see, I was expecting to see you a lot sooner."

"I can explain that," the portly man said with a wince.

Ranma turned to the remaining Tendos.

"Right, it's time for bed. I don't care where you sleep, but I'll be sleeping with Kasumi in her bed."

"What? Why?" Nabiki demanded.

"Because it'll make it harder for you to try something without hurting your sister," the redhead replied before yawning.

"Don't worry, it'll be alright since we're both be girls," Kasumi reasoned.

Nabiki, however, was unconvinced. "I don't like the sound of that."

"Boo-fucking-hoo," Ranma snorted. "If I wanna sleep with my fiancée, then I will. There's nuthin' you can do about it."

"But still…"

"It'll be alright, Nabiki-chan, I mean, Ranma-kun would never hurt us unless we deserved it," the Tendo homemaker smiled reassuringly.

"…"

"She's perfectly right," the redhead smiled before letting out a huge yawn. "Anyway, it's bedtime."

* * *

Ranma and Kasumi had a nice night's sleep, which made the fact that Nabiki had been unable to get much rest all the more infuriating.

Of course, the mercenary girl was also unsettled by the way Kasumi was acting all subservient to her fiancé.

"What did he do to you, Kasumi? Hell, what did I do to you, Kasumi?" she asked herself.

"Oh, good morning, Nabiki-chan," the older brunette smiled pleasantly as her sister arrived at the breakfast table. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, eat up, Nabiki," Ranma instructed. "You'll need your strength for when we go shopping."

"Shopping?" Nabiki repeated, still feeling rather out of sorts by the changes of the last few days.

"Yes, you see you are going to buy replacement clothes for Ranma-kun, since you destroyed all of his. I prepared a gi for you, but it is one of my fathers. I hope you don't mind," said Kasumi.

"It'll be ok, Kasumi. Now, let's eat."

* * *

As Kasumi loaded up the dishwasher with the breakfast dishes, she turned to see Ranma staring off into the middle distance with a look of deep thought on his face.

"Is something wrong, Ranma-kun?"

"I was just thinkin' about what to do with Nabiki," the martial artist replied. "She ain't never showed that she can cook or anything, so makin' her do chores probably ain't gonna work. Didn't you have an idea or something?"

"I did. I didn't want to do that before," Kasumi replied, "but I don't think that we have any other choice, Ranma-kun."

"What were you thinkin' of?"

The brunette's cheeks filled with blood as she thought about how to word a fantasy of hers.

"I'm waitin' Kasumi," Ranma said, his right foot tapping on the floor.

"I think you should make Nabiki and me your slaves," Kasumi blurted out, unable to look the young man in the face.

"And make you do what? You already do the cooking an' cleanin' around here and, like I said, Nabiki ain't never done chores before," the cursed youth replied in confusion.

"I mean, since we are your property and you are the man of the house, I was thinking that perhaps you could use us to make you feel good," the brunette explained, hoping that she wouldn't have to spell it out for Ranma.

Unfortunately, judging by the look on his face, she did.

"You know how you said that you might sell Nabiki to some of the boys at school; well I was thinking that perhaps you could use us for what they would use Nabiki for."

"Oh. Well, I suppose that I could. Though, it don't feel right treating you like that," Ranma replied, having finally realised what Kasumi was talking about.

"But it would show Nabiki that you mean business, Ranma-kun. And if you don't do anything soon, she'll just try to get out of this situation," Kasumi countered. "And she DOES need to be punished…"

"Yeah, she does," the martial artist nodded in agreement. "You got any ideas what to do? I mean, do I hit her or anything?"

"I have heard of a shop that caters to this sort of thing. We can go there while we're out shopping for your new clothes."

"Ok then," Ranma smiled.

* * *

Ranma and Nabiki followed Kasumi into the seedier part of town, with the mercenary girl wondering just how her "innocent sister" knew about the type of thing went on in this neighbourhood.

"Here we are," the older sister smiled as she stopped outside a shop with blacked out windows. "The people here will help us get the things you need, Ranma-kun."

Ranma looked at the name of the boutique and shrugged. "I guess, since you spend more time out shoppin' than me."

Nabiki was trying to deal with not only the fact that Nerima had a shop called "The Prison of Pleasure" but Kasumi knew of it and the sort of thing that it traded in.

"B-b-b-b-but how…w-when?"

"Like that matters; now get in there before it starts raining," Ranma ordered.

As the mercenary girl entered the sex shop, she was surprised to hear Kasumi talking to the assistant about what she was looking for.

"You see, due to my sister's actions, we're now the property of that young man there," the elder Tendo sister explained. "And to stop her from doing anything too foolish again, we need something to help keep her in her place."

"And this young man, is he the sort of man to discipline you?" the blonde shop assistant asked, tapping her right index finger against her ruby red lips.

"I-I don't know," Kasumi replied. "I was hoping that he might be, but he doesn't like to hit women. Is there anything you can suggest or recommend?"

"Hmm, well, normally I'd suggest a padded paddle, like this."

Kasumi was shown a soft leather cover rectangle, approximately twenty centimetres long and eight wide, though it did taper to a wooden handle.

"Is this model any good?"

"Well, it depends on what you're looking for," said the blonde. "How much pain are you looking to inflict in your games?"

"Well, she is my sister and I do love her dearly, but she needs to be punished," Kasumi sighed. "I'm just not sure what to do, seeing as Ranma-kun there isn't exactly experienced with this sort of thing."

"Hmm, perhaps humiliation would be a better tool? Maybe you could make her wear crotch-less panties? We have a selection here."

"That is a better idea, but I don't think it goes far enough. She has, how should I put it, almost ruined our family," the brunette explained. "What would you do in that situation?"

"Well, if it happened in real life, I'd disown her and never talk about her again," the blonde answered. "But since it's part of your role play, I think that collars to signify ownership would be a good start. You can attach leashes so you can walk her around like a dog. I believe someone who did that once said 'you acted like a bitch, so I'm going to make you my bitch' and insisted that their sub walked on all fours like a dog."

"That sounds wonderful," Kasumi smiled. "What sort of thing do you have? And can you engrave the name tags at all?"

"Name tags, that's a nice touch," the shop assistant smiled. "Do you have any preference as to the style? Are you on a budget at all?"

"We are, but I think that this is something that we need to do properly."

"It is indeed. Now, personally, I like the plain black leather collar with a polished steel name-tag. It's to the point, tasteful and it's not uncomfortable if you want to share your bed with her, unlike this one here," the blonde explained as she pointed to a collar with half a dozen spikes on it.

"Yes, a simple one like that would be best for Nabiki-chan," Kasumi agreed. "I think that I should have one too."

The shop assistant raised a perfectly groomed eyebrow. "That's an interesting game you're role-playing. I've heard of people pretending to be sisters for their boyfriend's amusement, but the need to punish the other one like this? Well, it's new to me."

"But it's not a game," the Tendo homemaker insisted.

"I'm not judging you for your choice of entertainment, I mean, I've seen much sicker things, and it's not like I can take the moral high ground – my tastes run to the younger," the blonde explained.

Kasumi, seeing that she wasn't going to convince the woman dressed in the leather basque, selected the two collars before asking to see the leashes.

"Right this way."

Ranma was still trying to deal with the nature of the establishment. While he knew that wasn't doing what his friends at school were constantly telling him he should be doing with his fiancées, he knew that something was amiss for there to be a selection of coloured artificial penises on the wall a metre to his right.

Of course, the fact that Nabiki of all people was holding her face and repeating "this can't be happening" added to his reasons for being unsettled.

"Ranma-kun," Kasumi called out from the cashier's desk. "Do these collars and leashes meet with your approval?"

Walking over to his fiancée, the pigtailed martial artist looked at the fetish gear and nodded. "Y-yeah, these are fine."

"Excellent choice, sir," the blonde shop assistant smiled. "Is there anything else that you'd like to purchase to aid in your disciplining of your property?"

"I dunno. Is there anything else I should get?" Ranma asked, clearly unsure of what the next step should be.

"I think that a spreader bar and wrist and ankle restraints are a good idea, I do know that people like to ensure that they have access to their property at all times."

"Well, I suppose that it would be a good idea, but I don't really have that much money at the moment. I had to buy a load of new clothes, since Nabiki ruined mine," the raven haired youth grumbled. "So I guess we'll leave it for now and come back if we need anything else."

"I see, well I hope that you have fun with your game," the blonde smiled as she rang up the collars and leashes. "What do you want engraved on the tags?"

"I think that 'Property of Ranma Saotome' above our names will be enough," Kasumi smiled.

* * *

Ranma was trying to make sense of the advice that had been given him by the shop assistant with regards to disciplining Nabiki and Kasumi.

"Kasumi," he said hesitantly as they approached the gate to the Tendo compound.

"Yes, Ranma-kun?" the taller brunette asked.

"I'm still not sure what I should do to punish you and Nabiki. I mean, you're nowhere near as bad as she is, but I got no idea what I should do that isn't going to make me look like a complete pervert," the pigtailed martial artist said with a despondent look on his face.

"Well, I have some bad news for you, Ranma-kun," Kasumi said solemnly as Ranma turned to face her.

"Oh..."

The brunette looked around. "I'll tell you inside."

Ranma nodded and locked the door after he and the Tendos were inside. "What is it, Kasumi?"

"The bad news is that you're going to have to be either perverted or cruel," Kasumi explained. "We've wronged you so badly that we cannot escape punishment without you losing face. Either you beat us or…"

"I ain't gonna beat either of you!" the pigtailed martial artist growled. "It ain't right to beat women."

"Then by default you must use other methods to punish us, Ranma-kun. Like making us wear the collars."

"I see. Well, if it's the only way, then it's what I gotta do," Ranma sighed.

"Perhaps you should change the locks while Nabiki and I get changed? Then I can make a start on lunch," Kasumi smiled.

"Ok."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Ranma called out for Kasumi.

"We'll be down in just a moment, Ranma-kun."

Not knowing what else to do, the pigtailed youth sat down in the sitting room and waited to see what Kasumi had decided to do.

He wasn't kept waiting for long.

"Please forgive the delay, Master Ranma," Kasumi apologised from the doorway. "It took a little more convincing than I expected."

"Convincing?"

"Yes," the brunette nodded before leading her sister into the room.

While this wouldn't have been too out of the ordinary, the fact that Nabiki was, like her older sister, wearing a bathrobe and a collar was far beyond Ranma's expectations.

"Why are you two dressed like that?" the cursed martial artist asked, unsure of what his fiancée had in mind.

"It's to punish us, Master Ranma," Kasumi explained. "Isn't that right, Nabiki-chan?"

"Y-yes, Onee-sama," the short haired girl answered reluctantly.

"So you gotta wear collars and bathrobes?"

"No, Master Ranma," Kasumi gently corrected. "We're only allowed to wear the collars until you feel we've atoned for our actions. Then we will be granted permission to wear clothes."

Before Ranma could reply, the older sister undressed herself and Nabiki with one smooth motion.

"W-w-mbsgfllldfgged…" the young man burbled in response to the sight of the two shapely Tendos.

Kasumi allowed herself a naughty smile before coughing politely to get her fiancé's attention. "Master Ranma, what are you orders?"

"Orders? Oh, right, yeah you said something about you being my slaves, didn't you? Err, I guess that some lunch would be nice," the pigtailed youth replied with a shrug.

"Yes, Master Ranma. Is there anything in particular that you would like to eat, Master Ranma?"

"I dunno. Whatever you cook will be fine, Kasumi."

"As you wish, Master Ranma. Would you like to play with Nabiki-chan while I prepare your meal?" the taller brunette asked with a smile.

"I guess…"

"If you'll excuse me, Master Ranma," Kasumi said with a bow.

When they were left alone, Nabiki knelt down to pick up a bathrobe.

"So, what's your sick little game, Saotome?"

"What're you talking about?"

"I'm referring to the kinky role play you've talked Kasumi into," the mercenary girl snapped as she covered herself up.

"I didn't talk Kasumi into anything!" Ranma protested angrily. "I wasn't gonna do anything like this to you. Hell, I'd almost forgotten about it until I woke up in Kasumi's bed."

'That's right, Ranma usually calms down in the morning, but something's still up here…' Nabiki mused. "So if you weren't going to make me your sex slave, what were you planning to do with me and Kasumi?"

"I dunno," the raven haired youth shrugged. "I guess I was just gonna wait until you tried to convince me to let Akane and the others come home and take it from there."

"And you wonder why I always get the better of you," the scantily clad girl smirked. "You're a terrible planner, Ranma. It'll be the death of you."

"That may be the case, Nabiki-chan," Kasumi called out from the doorway, her naked form covered by a frilly apron. "But you seem to have forgotten the rules of this house. Ranma is in charge, and you can only dress if he or your current task allows it. That means you should take off that robe and prepare for punishment."

"No," Nabiki replied defiantly.

"Master Ranma, I apologise for my rebellious sister," the domesticated Tendo bowed, her head touching the floor. "She needs to be disciplined, as do I for failing in my duties."

"What?" Nabiki demanded. "What are you talking about, Kasumi?"

"I thought that I had explained the rules to her, Master Ranma, but it seems that she needs to have her disobedience knocked out of her."

"That's not what I'm talking about, Kasumi!" the normally calm and collected Tendo protested. "Why do you need to be disciplined?"

"Because I have failed my Master, Nabiki-chan. It's the only way to ensure that I will redouble my efforts to keep a harmonious household," Kasumi explained. "I take each transgression on your part as a personal failure on mine, Nabiki-chan and because of that; I will share in your punishment."

Nabiki shook her head. 'What the fuck is going on here? When did Kasumi get such kinky ideas about things? She must have snapped when that deal fell through… oh shit, this is partially my fault.'

"What should I do?" the martial artist asked, not wanting his ego to suffer any more. "I don't wanna beat her up; let alone you!"

"You must be strong, Master Ranma," the Tendo homemaker insisted. "If you show weakness now, Nabiki will continue to take advantage of you. And before you know it, she'll have swindled you out of everything and you'll be back to square one, only a laughing stock."

"But I'm not sure what to do," Ranma sighed. "I mean, I ain't ever been in this situation before."

"I think that you should humiliate her," Kasumi said helpfully. "If I may be so bold…"

Ranma looked at the older sister questioningly as she left the room before he quickly averted his gaze from her well shaped buttocks.

Kasumi returned with a leash. "I think that we, err, YOU should make her walk around on the leash like an animal, Master Ranma."

"How about no? I'm leaving," the mercenary girl said before she started to make her way to her bedroom.

"Ok. But being on a leash doesn't sound that bad, I mean, Ryoga got over that collar thing pretty quickly," the raven haired youth shrugged, trying to ignore Nabiki's protests.

"Ah, but he was allowed to use the toilet when he needed to. Nabiki-chan will be forced to do her business outside, on the lawn," the apron wearing brunette explained with a disturbing smile.

"Fuck off!" Nabiki protested. "There's no way I'm going to let you do that to me!"

"You don't have a say in the matter, Nabiki-chan," Kasumi countered. "If Master Ranma desires it, you'll be rented out to boys from Furinkan. I dread to think how many of them are unhappy with the way you treated them."

"What the fuck did you do to Kasumi, Saotome?" Nabiki demanded.

"Nothing," Ranma insisted.

"Except that he saved my life and my virginity when my own sister sold them," the apron clad Tendo added. "I did lose my innocence, however. And that is a small price to pay for not being passed around men like a bottle of cheap alcohol."

"I never meant for that to happen!" the mercenary girl shouted back,

"If you say so," the martial artist shrugged. "I mean, I'm pretty sure that you never meant to sell me out to Kuno."

"No," Kasumi corrected, "I'm pretty sure that she meant to do that, which is why I think that you should punish her by treating her like the bitch she is."

Ranma looked thoughtful for a moment. "Ok, but where do we start?"

"Well, I'll put the leash on Nabiki and you can walk her around the house," the older brunette said as she attached the length of leather to her sister's collar. "Now, down on your knees, bitch."

Nabiki spluttered as she was forced to the floor. "What the fuck?"

"Silence, slave. You're lucky you're not MY property."

Ranma looked concerned when Kasumi's voice took on an aggressive tone. "K-kasumi is everything ok?"

"Sorry, Master Ranma, I didn't mean to overstep my bounds," the homemaker immediately apologised.

"T-that's not what I was talking about, Kasumi."

"Oh, you're referring to my comment about Nabiki being my property? Well, if she had done half of what she did to you to me, I would have made her regret a long time ago. If we had some more money available, I would have purchased a remotely operated vibrator and made her wear it in public," Kasumi explained as if nothing was wrong.

"…" Nabiki and Ranma blinked in unison.

"But that's just me, what do you want to do with Nabiki, Master Ranma?"

"Err…" the pigtailed youth replied while performing a credible koi impression.

"Maybe you could make her eat her food out of a bowl like an animal?" the apron wearing Tendo suggested.

"I guess that's ok…" Ranma trailed off, not really wanting Nabiki to suffer all that much.

"As you command, Master Ranma," Kasumi smiled. "Now, follow me, Nabiki-chan."

"Urk!" the mercenary girl exclaimed as she was dragged unceremoniously towards the kitchen.

* * *

Ranma sat down at the table, trying to make sense of what was going on inside Kasumi's head. While he was glad that his fiancée had some ideas on how to punish Nabiki, he didn't like the way the younger sister was being treated like a slave.

"Kasumi, I'm not sure that this is such a good idea. I mean, she is your sister."

The apron wearing Tendo let out a small sigh. "I thought that you might understand, Master Ranma, but it seems that I was wrong."

"What? What do you mean, Kasumi?"

"I thought that you were a strong man, capable of showing people who boss is. Making them pay for any transgression in cruel and usual ways," Kasumi replied. "I see that you're just weak and not as manly as I thought you were."

"Hey!" Ranma protested. "I'm manly enough and I'll prove it to you!"

"Then punish Nabiki!" the unstrained girl demanded.

"Fine, bring her here!" the pigtailed martial artist ordered. "I'll discipline her myself!"

Kasumi turned to hide her smile. 'At last Ranma-kun is going to prove that he is the man I've been looking for…'

Nabiki coughed when the leash was jerked violently towards where Ranma was sitting.

"Go on, Master Ranma, punish my disrespectful sister, tan her hide," the homemaker goaded.

The pigtailed martial artist's face was serious as he pulled the completely naked girl onto his lap.

Nabiki couldn't believe what was happening and thought it was all a dream until the first smack landed home on her shapely behind.

"Ah! Hey, what do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

Ranma replied with another smack. "Quiet, you, or you'll get more for each time you speak!"

The mercenary Tendo gulped nervously, but decided to let Ranma have his fun for the time being. She grit her teeth to help brace herself for the remainder her punishment.

After Ranma unleashed another half dozen strikes, Nabiki's buttocks were turning pink, much to Kasumi's approval.

"I see that you are indeed manly enough to take care of the discipline her in your house, Master Ranma. I apologise for doubting you. I must be either punished or I must make amends. What is your decision?" the older brunette asked, her head bowed respectfully.

"Do whatever you want," the cursed teenager shrugged before turning to his meal.

Kasumi allowed herself a naughty grin as she crawled towards her fiancé/master. When she reached where Ranma was sitting, she reached out and fumbled with his black kung-fu pants for a few seconds.

"What're doing?!" the Saotome heir hissed, not used to Kasumi touching him.

"I'm trying to relief you of some tension and to make amends for doubting your manliness, Master Ranma. Please, I believe that oral sex is the correct course of action."

"O-ok," Ranma squeaked as his fiancée freed his rapidly hardening manhood and gave it a few strokes. "I-if you think that's best."

"I do, Master Ranma," Kasumi smiled before leaning and licking the shaft facing her.

"Yes," she commented as she worked her way up and down the length of Ranma's penis, "this is best way to show you how sorry I am, isn't it?"

"Uunnh!" Ranma grunted suddenly, his thick semen landing on Kasumi's chin, shoulder and hand. "S-sorry about that, Kasumi."

"Do not worry about such things, Master Ranma. My research has indicated that inexperienced men often ejaculate quickly during their first sexual encounters. I have little doubt that given enough practice, you will be a veritable sex-machine," the homemaker smiled.

By the time Kasumi had eaten her food, Nabiki had sufficiently recovered her faculties to ask what was next. Ranma had long since finished his meal.

"You need to finish your food, Nabiki-chan. Once we have all eaten, it is up to Master Ranma what we do next," Kasumi answered. "Is there anything you would like to do this afternoon, Master Ranma?"

"I… I dunno. I kinda want to do something for you, Kasumi. I mean, it's not everyday that someone does something like what you did for me," the pigtailed youth replied, rubbing the back of his head. "Is there anything you want to do?"

"Hey, why are you doing what she wants? Isn't she supposed to be punished like me?" Nabiki protested.

"Yeah, I guess so. But she did something nice for me," Ranma countered. "What are you going to do for me?"

"Yes, that is a good question, Nabiki-chan. Good behaviour and doing favours for Master Ranma are what will be required if you want to start wearing clothes around the house again," the older sister explained.

"…" The normally calm Tendo was stunned into silence.

"Master Ranma, would you like to take a bath? If so, would you like me to wash your back for you?" Kasumi asked with a pleasant smile.

"Not right now," the raven haired youth replied. "Hey, Kasumi, do you think you could show me your book on punishing people? I'd like to know what sort of thing I'm supposed to do."

"Certainly, Master Ranma. Where would you like to read it?"

"In the lounge."

* * *

"What was the title of your book, Kasumi?" Ranma asked as he settled down on the couch.

"Well, it isn't a book, it's a weekly publication, Master Ranma," the brunette explained as she handed the first volume to her fiancé.

"Dungeons and Dragged Heels – The Secrets of Discipline and Domination," the cursed teenager read aloud. "Where did you find this Kasumi?"

"I… I have a confession to make, Master Ranma. I've been having naughty thoughts about you and other people. I didn't know what to do about them, so I had a talk with some of my friends and they pointed me in the direction of the Prison of Pleasure. It was when I had a long discussion with the staff there that I learned about sex."

"I see. Well, I suppose that I should be grateful – you know enough about this sort of thing to tell me where to start."

The brunette smiled. "Would you like a footrest? I'll bring in Nabiki and you can use her."

"Ok," Ranma nodded absently as he picked up the closest issue of the magazine to him. Seconds later, he put it down again, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"Now, now, Nabiki-chan, you don't want to keep Master Ranma waiting, do you?" the calm voice of Kasumi chided. "Unless you enjoyed being spanked."

"I don't like being spanked!" Nabiki shot back angrily.

'What about the fact that I saw how aroused you were?' the older sister thought with a small smirk. "Well, if that's the case, you had better get into position as Master Ranma's footrest."

"I am not a piece of furniture, Kasumi!" the mercenary Tendo protested.

"No, you are whatever Master Ranma wants you to be," Kasumi corrected. "If he wishes to use you as a footrest then you are a footrest. If he wishes to use your breasts as a pillow, then you are a pillow. You forfeited your right to protest when you sold us to the yakuza. You're lucky that Master Ranma isn't a vindictive person."

She gave the leash a sharp tug. "Now, down on your knees. Prepare for your new life as an object to be used and abused."

Nabiki shot Ranma a defiant look which, unfortunately for her, Kasumi saw.

"Nabiki-chan, if you want to be punished, then you're going the right way about it. I'm sorry, Master Ranma, but it seems that we may have to use a more advanced technique in order to ensure discipline here in the house."

"O-ok," the pigtailed martial artist nodded hesitantly.

The older brunette leaned in to give her sister a stage whisper. "You're going to get your wish, young lady. I hope that you realise that it will cause the three of us much distress for you to be treated like this."

"Ah!" the mercenary girl gasped when Kasumi roughly grabbed her right breast to emphasise her point. "That hurt!"

"And so will the rest of your punishment, Nabiki-chan. You are very lucky that Master Ranma's friends are not here, if there were, I would recommend that they use your every orifice for their sordid pleasures. Of course, if that was to happen, we might have to knock out your teeth so you can't bite men," Kasumi added with a sneer.

"No."

The sisters looked at Ranma.

"I don't like that idea."

"I'm sorry, Master Ranma, but I was only explaining to Nabiki-chan that things could be worse," the older sister replied with her head bowed low.

"It don't matter – no-one is knocking out no-one's teeth," Ranma insisted.

Nabiki breathed a sigh of relief.

"But she still needs to be punished, Master Ranma," Kasumi said in a respectful tone.

"Yeah, she does. You got any ideas?"

"Well, there was something that I read in Dungeons and Dragged Heels that looked interesting. It's in issue eight, use the contents to find the article by Lord Shinji," the older brunette replied. "He's a veritable fountain of knowledge when it comes to chastisement and incentives."

"What and what?" the pigtailed martial artist asked in confusion.

Kasumi sighed as Ranma's poor language skills made themselves known. " Have you ever heard of the 'Carrot and Stick' approach?"

"Yeah, of, so 'chastisement' means punishment? Heh, I didn't know that," the raven haired youth admitted.

* * *

To be continued…

Well, this is most likely the last chapter of this you'll see here - what I have written for chapter 5 is far too filthy for this place.

I suppose I could try sanitising it, but I am lazy.

Until the next time.


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